Are you happy?
by Lyvance Callele
Summary: AU: Oliver made a solo flight to get his brother's body back but gets involved in a car crash. And Gene asks him...
1. Chapter 1

_Hi! Im new in the fanfiction arena so please read and review! I would highly appreciate constructive criticisms. _^ v ^

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><p>Oliver sat in the waiting area, looking at the ticket tucked in between the pages of his passport.<p>

He didn't like to go to the place but he didn't have much of a choice…at least that was what he believed.

A woman's voice echoed in the airport mentioning the flight number Oliver had on his ticket.

He sighed and stood up. He looked around and made his way to the boarding area.

It was only a matter of time before they realized that he was missing.

He kept on walking, not minding the women noticing him and giving him flirtatious smirks. He was used to them anyway.

He slightly pulled the grey newsboy cap covering his head to cover his forehead and went in line to board the plane.

"Welcome, sir. Ticket please," a woman in uniform asked sweetly once he reached the door.

He handed her the ticket, ignoring what she looked like. Another woman escorted him to a seat.

"Do you need anything else, sir?"

"No," he said, eyeing the window beside him. He then heard the woman mumble more – perhaps something like 'call me if you need anything'. He didn't care. He didn't ride the airplane to talk to them.

It felt different.

He had been riding planes all his life but this particular ride seemed different for him – lonesome.

He sighed again.

His guardian would be very upset with him.

This was his first time to fly on his own, and he hasn't crossed the age of seventeen.

He also wasn't with him.

He closed his eyes and leaned his head back.

It didn't take long before the plane took off. He was lucky there were barely anyone in the business class. He had the seats beside him to himself. He ignored everyone else in the flight as he forced himself to sleep.

A high pitched ringing sound echoed inside the small room.

Mai jolted in shock from her sleep – immediately sitting up and turning the alarm off on her small clock.

She yawned and scratched her eyes. She then stood up and stretched her arms up.

It was a weekend but there she was, folding her futon at five in the morning. She kept it in her cabinet before pulling the small wooden table near the wall to replace the futon on the floor.

She yawned again and ran to her bathroom which was just less than ten steps from the spot in the room where she slept in.

She took a quick shower and walked to her kitchen, about six steps from the bathroom. She began to prepare her morning tea and noodles.

A lot of people she knew didn't like how she sipped tea with a steaming cup of instant ramen but she didn't care. She liked filling her stomach that way.

She consumed her breakfast while watching the morning news in her old 5" TV ignoring the poor picture quality of the screen. It was how her day always began – eating and watching the news in her bedroom-slash-living room.

After brushing her teeth and making sure that she looked presentable enough for the outside world, she walked to her door – which was five steps from her living room – and began to put her worn sandals on.

She then took a deep breath taking her shabby yellow body bag from one of the wooden hooks on her door, and wore on a smile as she walked out the door and locked it behind her.

"Good morning, Mai-chan!" a boy called as he rode his bicycle in front of her small lawn.

"Good morning, Shiro-kun!"

"They're on the main street now waiting for you."

"Oh, thank you! See you later," she said prancing out to the street and waving a hand at him.

Shiro waved back at her.

Mai ran throughout the alley, greeting everyone she passed by, and took a turn to reach the main street where a group of people stood around a van.

"Mai-chan!" greeted a young woman carrying a fully stuffed shoulder bag in her arms.

"Emi!" Mai greeted back. "Sorry I'm late."

Emi shook her head. "You're just in time." She then turned to the others loading the van and hugging each other. "Everyone, Mai-chan's here!"

"Mai-chan!"

"Good morning! I was informed you needed help with your things?"

"Yes," a middle aged man said, scratching his head in embarrassment. "We can't go with Yui here to the airport so we figured she'll need help in carrying her luggage. Is it really okay if you help us? It's pretty heavy."

"No problem," Mai said cheerily flaunting her slightly plump arms as if trying to show a muscle bump. "I don't work in the market for nothing, you know."

Everyone chuckled. "Alright then," the man said. "Thank you so much Mai-chan."

"Mai!" called a girl in the same age as Mai as she pranced out of the house.

"Yui!"

"Hey, sorry you have to help me with these," she said shyly.

Mai chuckled. "I would love to take you to the airport."

Yui smiled warmly at Mai. She threw herself at her and squeezed her tight. "I'll really miss you! I'll write to you, okay?"

Mai laughed. "And I'll write to you back," she said hugging the girl back. "So you'll be riding the plane alone? They really allow that?"

Yui leaned away. "My aunt will meet me in the airport in America," she said. "I'm a student after all so they allowed me to go on my own from here. And you have to admit that I don't look much like a sixteen-year old like you."

It was true. Yui was taller than Mai by two inches and her physique looked more built. Perhaps it was because of her half-American decent evident in her blond hair.

Mai smiled. "I see. So what's the time of your flight again?"

"Let's get going," said another man who ran to the driver seat. "We just have thirty minutes to get there."

Mai, Yui, and Emi immediately ran inside the van with the Yui's luggage and waved good bye to the others.

Mai watched the sceneries pass by the window beside her with excitement on her face.

It was her first time to go to the airport. Though her parents met abroad, ever since she was born they never travelled abroad anymore.

"You'll love the airport, Mai," Yui told her while Emi, her cousin spoke with the driver about the trip.

Mai looked at her with bright eyes.

"They have this huge lobby where people stay and wait. The ceiling is huge and full of lights! It's like a mall but it doesn't have much of those boutiques and restaurants. Those stores can still be found in another part of the airport."

Mai imagined how it would look like.

She saw herself in a stylish coat and boots walking into the airport with her luggage in tow. Airport personnel would greet her and lead her to the lobby. In her hand was a passport and a ticket.

Her flight will be announced in the lobby. And with that she would proceed to the boarding area.

"Mai," Emi's voice called beside her.

Mai flushed and looked at Emi. "Y-Yes?"

Emi chuckled. "I said let's sit down," she said. "Yui's having her passport stamped and the line's a little long so it's better if we sit down to wait for her."

Mai nodded shyly and sat down on one of the chairs in the lobby. She sighed, looking around at the airport lobby. It was in deed huge and there were so many people of different race and colour walking to and fro with their bags and luggage in tow.

She looked down at the heavy luggage she had her hand on. It had Yui's name on it – printed in huge English letters.

"That's so Yui doesn't lose her luggage," Emi said as she smiled at her.

"…Oh…"

"You see, when you ride an airplane, your luggage is taken to a cargo space in the plane. The only things you can take with you in your seat are your hand-carry bags like this one," Emi said showing her Yui's fully-stuffed shoulder bag.

"So do you also get your bag from the cargo area?"

"No. The airport people take all the luggage from the cargo area of the plane to an x-ray for inspection. It will be put on this long slide that moves each luggage through the machine and into a big loop where passengers can grab their luggage once they see it there," Emi explained. "A lot of times, people mistake other people's luggage as their own because they look alike so to save Yui the trouble of losing her luggage to someone, we put her name on the luggage – even in the other baggage she has."

Mai nodded. She then looked at the luggage again. "Yui has a lot of things in her luggage."

Emi chuckled. "You know how she is."

Mai laughed. "Yeah, she takes so many extra things with her. I'm surprised her luggage doesn't look too stuffed."

"It's all in the packing," Emi said winking an eye at Mai. "If you want, I'll help you pack your things to when you go to Europe!"

"Sure! If it happens at all…" she said sadly turning away.

Emi patted Mai's shoulder with an assuring smile. "It will happen Mai-chan," she said. "You've been a very good person. I know your kindness and hard work will pay off in the near future. And when it does, I'll even give you my spare travel luggage, okay?"

Mai cheerily smiled back at Emi. "Thanks, Emi."

"Hey! Come on, I'm done," Yui said while running toward them.

"Don't run! You might end up hurting your self!" Emi said.


	2. Chapter 2

Oliver took a deep breath and sighed before he stood up with his back pack on one shoulder.

It was a long ride and after pretending to sleep for most of the trip, the stewardess had announced that they have landed.

He took his time in walking out of the plane, still ignoring the flirtatious greetings of the stewardesses toward him.

He did the usual protocol when getting off the plane and went straight to the luggage area where he waited to spot a dark blue luggage with his name on it.

He sighed feeling people's eyes on him. After some time, he spotted his luggage. It was beneath a small pile of luggage.

He reached out to pull it.

"_Need help kid_?" a brawny man asked from behind him as he saw a massive arm reach out in front of him. "_Which one's yours_?"

"_I can manage_," he said keeping his eyes on his target and pulling the handle of the luggage with one arm.

He lifted the luggage with ease and set it down beside him.

He could feel the people around him stare in awe. After all, how many times in your life would you be able to see a thin teenager carry a massive load in one hand?

He ignored the stares and went on his way through the passengers waiting for their luggage. He then looked around to look for the exit.

"Bye, Yui," Mai said as she embraced her friend for the last time. They were near the boarding area and Yui was the only one allowed to go further. "You have a safe trip. I'll wait for your letter!"

"I'll also wait for your reply," Yui said chuckling. "Thanks for everything again." She then turned to go with the luggage in tow.

Emi and Mai waved goodbye to her when Yui waved her hand toward them before she went to fall in line.

"When it's your turn to ride the plane to Europe," Emi said. "I'll also carry your bags for you 'til we get here, okay?"

Mai smiled. "Sure. That would be great!"

They then turned to walk to the exit.

Oliver walked into the cab terminal ignoring everyone who passed him again. He held a hotel brochure in his hand as he eyed the line for riding a cab.

It was a hassle to not get a reservation before he got to the place but if he did so, they would automatically track him down. So he opted to keep the hotel brochures where he could get accommodations from and just browse them once he got in the country.

It wasn't supposed to be a season for tourists to flood the country so he hoped that the hotels weren't fully booked.

…Hoped…

He sighed again.

…The things he do when he wasn't around…

"_Hi_!" a woman said behind him.

He ignored it.

"_Hey, are you a tourist here too?"_

"No," he said still keeping his eyes in front of him.

The woman chuckled. "Wow. I thought you only speak English. Sorry."

He ignored it and took a step forward as the line moved.

"So are you here for vacation?"

Again, he did not respond.

"I'm on my way to Shibuya. You know the place?"

He pointed a finger at the map on one of the walls of the terminal. It had the name 'Shibuya' on one of its marks.

The woman chuckled. "You're funny."

He resisted the urge to glare at her. Maybe he should have just ignored her from the start.

"I'm on my way there. Are you on your way there too?"

He eyed the cabs as they loaded the passengers. He was the third on line already.

"Can I ride the cab with you? I'm not really familiar with this country. I just know how to speak the language because I studied Foreign Language back in Europe. I'll pay half of the fare."

He was already in front of the line. A taxi stopped before him and he immediately got in. But before he could lock the door behind him, the woman went in, telling the guard that she was with him.

He glared at the woman and suddenly felt something hard and cold touch his side.

The woman was smiling at him. "Let's go."

"Where to?" the driver asked.

"Anywhere," the woman answered.

Oliver glared at the driver as the cab drove out without activating his cab meter. He noticed the charms he had on the windshield.

"Be good now," the woman said smiling warmly at him. "I don't want to blow your head off."

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><p>"Do you girls have anywhere else to go to?" the driver of the van asked Emi and Mai as they drove out of the airport.<p>

"I have nothing else to do," Emi said. "What about you, Mai?"

"I have to get to Haruka-san's tea shop," Mai said.

"Work again?" the driver said. "But you've been working even in weekdays Mai-chan."

"Yeah," Emi said worriedly at Mai. "You need to rest too, you know. And if you're really having issues at home, why don't you just live with us? You know you're like a family to us now."

Mai shook her head. "No, it's okay. Haruka-san just needs help with her shop today so I offered her a hand. Don't worry about me. Besides, I'll be free to sleep the rest of the afternoon off."

"Are you sure?" Emi asked – not completely believing the girl. She knew how Mai would say things to avoid people getting worried about her. "Alright. Eat dinner with us tonight, okay? No 'buts' young lady."

Mai chuckled. "Yes, ma'am."

The driver laughed as he took a turn to the street.

"Tomo-san, you can drop me off here," Mai said pointing at an alley. "I'll just walk to Haruka-san's shop. It's not that far anyway."

"Are you sure?" Tomo asked from behind the wheel as he stopped the van in front of the alley. "That alley's dangerous. A lot of robberies happen there, Mai-chan."

"We'll it's almost nine in the morning now so don't worry," Mai said. "I always use that alley to the shop because it's closer to it."

"But Mai, you'll never know what will happen if you walk there," Emi said. "Tomo-san, let's drop Mai off the shop."

"No," Mai said. "I'll be fine, promise! I'll meet you at dinner tonight. Haruka-san usually sweeps the alley so I'll be meeting her there in no time. Don't worry okay?"

Before Emi and Tomo could complain, Mai already jumped out of the van and ran to the alley – waving her hand at them with a warm smile on her face.

Tomo sighed as he watched Mai disappear in the alley. "That girl is just amazing," he said. "She didn't want us to get away from the path home, did she?"

Emi sighed. "Yup. That girl is always too concerned about others, and not much about her self. I just hope we do meet her for dinner tonight."

Tomo nodded and began to drive away.

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><p>"Your wallet," the woman said, still pointing the gun at Oliver's side.<p>

They drove into various alleys that led to a long empty street.

"…Is what..?" Oliver said staring at the road they were in. They soon reached a vast vacant lot.

"Stop playing with me or you'll be one of the corpse they find in this lot!" the woman scolded.

Oliver smirked. "Oh, so people died here? No wonder I sense spirits here."

He watched the driver's hands shake.

"Hey, Yumiko-san…" the driver said shakily.

"Shut up! He's bluffing, idiot!" the woman said, glaring at Oliver.

"Sure. I'm not a psychic," Oliver said. "I can just see a ghost sitting beside the driver right now."

The driver cried out in fright as he reflexively let the wheel go.

The car began to swerve frantically.

"Hold the wheel, idiot!" the woman cried as they all moved side to side in the out-of-control car.

Oliver smirked and focused his eyes on the wheel.

The car stopped swerving and instead drove steadily and made a turn toward another alley.

The driver gasped in shock and began to cry out louder.

"What that hell are you doing? This isn't where we're supposed to go!" the woman said.

"I'm not driving," the driver said raising his hand up and showing that his feet weren't pressing any of the car pedals.

The woman froze upon seeing the driving wheel move on its own, making the cab do a sharp turn.

"I didn't kill you," the driver said. "This is my first time to do this! Please don't kill me!"

The woman glared at Oliver.

Oliver stared back at her. "I'm still bluffing," he said.

The woman gritted her teeth. "Then you're dying with those ghosts!" she pointed the gun at Oliver's face and pulled the trigger.

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><p>Mai gasped and turned around.<p>

She was walking through several narrow alleys when she heard a gun shot echo in the distance, followed by the sound of a vehicle skidding and stopping in a deafening crash.

She froze after turning around, not quite sure of what to do.

She had heard of several crime incidents happening in the alleys where she walked in. It was probably because that particular place of the town had several abandoned lots.

But all of them happened at night so she didn't really mind walking in the alleys although she does stay away from the particular place where bodies of murdered people were found.

She swallowed loudly – afraid of what to do.

She was sure that she heard the noise. It was early morning so it couldn't have been made by ghosts.

She then saw a smoke coming from the direction of the noise.

She gripped her bag tightly. There really was an accident.

Then it hit her.

What if there were survivors in the accident? And what if the vehicle would explode any minute now and burn the survivor?

She began to run quickly toward the direction of the noise.

Her conscience would kill her.


	3. Chapter 3

Oliver winced, feeling dizzy and weak. He found himself slumped on the back seat. He slowly sat up and noticed that he was stuck and squeezed between the back seat and the front seats.

In front of him was a pair of red heels…or feet to be exact.

He looked up wincing at the pain he was feeling in his legs.

He must have gotten a sprain somewhere.

He saw the lifeless face of the woman who was robbing him earlier. Her head was bloody and lay over the bottom frame of the shattered windshield. He also noticed that a thick concrete pole tore the front of the cab into two.

He turned to look at the driver as he suddenly realized that something wet was flowing down from his forehead.

The driver had a hole above the tip of his eye brow. And like the woman, blood was flowing down his face.

He sighed.

It was his first time back in the country and here he was already killing two people.

He winced, feeling the pain in his head and legs worsen.

He had to get out...and quickly before the authorities get there or he would be in a heap of trouble.

He tried to crawl out of the car but ended up screaming out in pain as he tried to move his legs.

"Is somebody there?" he heard someone call…a girl to be exact.

…Great. A witness…how lucky…

It didn't take long before he saw a faint image of a girl with short brown locks staring at him in her own round brown eyes.

"Oh no," she gasped.

He winced again. He didn't want to do it but the pain was terrible.

"You're stuck," Mai said seeing a black haired young man slumped in the back seat of the crashed cab. His blue eyes could barely look back at her.

"Yes now get me out," the young man spat out.

Mai was taken aback by the statement but she figured that the man might have been feeling quiet an intense pain, forcing him to say such rude remarks.

"Calm down, I'll help you," she said leaning in and holding his shoulders. She then saw the woman and the driver in the car and gasped in shock. She also noticed the gun that the woman held. It seemed to be pointing at the back seat.

She looked down at the young man. "Are you a criminal?"

"I'm a victim, _blast it_," the young man said as blood continued to flow from his forehead. "Those are robbers now get me out!"

"Okay! Okay," Mai said as she leaned in and took a look at where the young man's legs were. She winced at how narrow the space was but by the look of it, his legs didn't seem broken.

She took a deep breath and held the young man closer to her as she forced her self to ignore the two corpses in the car.

"Can you still feel your legs?" she asked.

"You think I'd wince if I don't?"

"Well you have a wound on your head too so I wanted to make sure," she spat back.

The young man grunted.

"What a jerk," she muttered as she thought of a way to get him out. "Okay I'm going to pull you out, alright?"

The young man didn't answer and just winced at the pain.

"Once we get a little farther up, we need to lift your legs up to the seat, alright?"

The young man grunted.

"Okay…one, two, three!" Mai pulled the young man out while he screamed out in pain against the crook of her neck.

Mai winced at his cry. The man was really in terrible pain. "That was good," she said. "Now we have a little space so let's lift your legs up, okay?" she said as she moved closer to his legs and reached out to hold one of them.

"This leg first, okay?" the girl said as Oliver felt a warm hand on his left leg. He winced and reflexively looked up only to see a pair of stretched black cycling shorts surrounded by a striped mini-skirt.

Oliver winced loudly and turned his head away as blood crept up his cheeks.

…Gordon Bennett…

"Ready?" the girl asked. He couldn't seem to verbally answer with his guilt. "One, two, three!" He moved his legs and realized that the girl also lifted them for him.

"Very good," the girl said. "We're almost there. Now I'll pull you out again, okay?"

And with that Oliver found his upper body against hers once more. Her arms embraced him firmly.

He winced but not because of the pain but because of how his face touched the side of her neck.

He hated it when his body reminded him that he was a human male.

"One, two, three," the girl said, pulling him again. He also pushed his self toward the girl to help her.

"Good! Now the legs again," the girl said as she moved to his legs.

Oliver buried his face on the seat to keep his head from turning and seeing her thighs stretching out from the cycling shorts.

"…One, two, three!"

Oliver felt his legs lift up and land on the back seat. He sighed in relief.

"Great! Now let's slide out," she said as she embraced him again and pulled him out completely.

He landed on the concrete pavement, seeing an outside view of the wrecked cab.

He couldn't stop his body from breathing heavily. He felt so weak and in pain – not to mention, dizzy.

He closed his eyes as the girl moved him to her arms. He opened his eyes again and saw her worried face.

"Do you feel more pain in your legs right now?" she asked in a tone that rang in his ears.

"No," he said.

"That's good. Now I need to leave you for a while to get some help," she said slowly putting him down to leave.

"No," he said, closing his eyes and pulling a cloth from the clothes she wore.

Mai felt her cheeks burn, seeing the young man's pale hand grip the end of her skirt.

Damn! She should really refrain from wearing them.

She sat down again and took the man in her arms once more. Maybe he was in shock with what happened.

By the looks of the cab, he could have been from the airport. And he didn't look like someone from the country though he spoke fluently in the native tongue. She figured that he was a tourist.

And she couldn't help but feel sorry for him because instead of getting a great impression of the place, he almost died.

He also didn't seem that old. In fact, he looked like a teenager.

And he woke up alone in a wrecked cab with two corpse.

That was undoubtedly a mouthful.

"But we need to get you to the hospital," she reasoned.

"No," the young man said. "No they'll see me," he said still having his eyes closed.

He looked so pale and he felt so cold.

Mai gently brushed his hair away from his face.

Maybe someone was after him and those dead people were some of those who wanted him dead.

She gasped.

"Okay," Mai said. "Do you know someone here that can help us get you patched up?"

"No," he said. "My luggage…"

Mai raised a brow. "What..?"

"In the trunk," he said opening his blue eyes to look at her.

Mai froze at the sight of his blue eyes in the morning light.

"Get my luggage now," he snapped.

Mai snorted, glaring at the young man. She wanted to snap back at him but he was an injured and shocked person. She shouldn't blame him for acting badly at that moment.

She laid him down the pavement and walked to the trunk of the cab. It was already deformed so she only had to push the trunk up to get it open.

She then saw a dark blue travel luggage and a black back pack.

"Are these both yours?" she asked, pulling out the heavy luggage first.

"Yes," he said as he breathed harshly. His eyes were shut as well.

Mai didn't know what else to do after taking out the luggage and the bag out.

The man didn't want anyone else to see him so maybe it was also a bad idea to call someone to get them to a hospital.

By the looks of him though, he needed to be treated.

Mai went back to him and brushed his soft black hair again. "Are you sure you're okay? You look terribly pale."

The young man grunted. "I'll just…rest…"

And with that, the young man fell unconscious.


	4. Chapter 4

"_Why do you have to go there without me?"_ Oliver cried out while tears built up around his eyes.

A young man that looked just like him smiled at him. _"Stop being an idiot, Noll. You know the answer to that."_

_"No, I don't know! Tell me, Gene!"_

Gene sighed in defeat. _"Sometimes the question is more important than the answer."_

_"Stop talking crap with me Gene! That does not apply to this situation!"_

Gene chuckled. _"Open your eyes, Noll. You'll see the answer."_

_"What..?"_

But before he could scold Gene more, everything went black.

Oliver winced and felt something soft thinly supporting his back from the hard wooden floor.

He slowly opened his eyes and found himself inside a small room. He sat up and winced at the pain in his head and legs.

He reflexively touched his aching head and felt something wrapped around it – a gauze?

He looked around as his eyes slowly adjusted to the light.

He raised his brow at the sight before him. There was one light bulb on the ceiling illuminating the room. From where he sat, he could see a small wooden table against the wall on his left, a pile of books beside the table, a white door a few steps away from where he sat on, a corner near the bathroom door that looked like a small kitchen with a sink that was across him. There was a small refrigerator at the side of the sink, and then there was a small hall that seemed to lead toward a door. From the hall to the door, he saw shelves and cabinets that stretched to his right.

Oliver turned behind him and saw a glass window. It seemed dark outside. On a corner he saw his luggage and back pack.

He raised his brows, wondering where he was.

He thought of what he did earlier.

He rode a plane, rode a cab…oh right. He crashed the cab and killed two people in the process.

Then a girl helped him out of the wreck.

He felt his cheeks burn, remembering the sight of the black cycling shorts and smooth thighs.

Oliver shook his head.

He checked the room again for a clock. Instead he found a small alarm clock on one of the shelves.

Oliver raised a brow. How long has he been sleeping?

He sighed and decided that he needed to go to the bathroom. He slowly forced himself to stand, wincing at the pain in his legs.

He slowly took small steps toward the white door, thinking that it had to be a bathroom.

Oliver opened the door and leaned his body against the door frame to look at the bathroom.

It was small. It had a toilet bowl with a built-in flush – thank heavens – and a shower area separated by a shower curtain. It also had a wide rectangle window near the ceiling, and a small lavatory with a mirror beside the shower curtain.

But everything was clean. It even smelled sweet.

Oliver sighed and closed the door behind him.

Mai ran to her door and quickly unlocked it with the key she took from her pocket. She had a steamy bag of food in her right hand.

She couldn't believe that she was able to keep the events that happened earlier to Emi and her family. Though she loved them, she couldn't force herself to get them into the mess she was in.

After all, she wasn't sure if the young man she saved was indeed innocent. He could be a criminal though her own instincts doubted the idea.

Either way, she would get in big trouble if anyone learned that she was involved in the crime that was reported earlier that noon. She might even be labelled as a murder suspect.

She sighed, walking in to her home and shutting the door behind her. Upon turning her eyes forward, he saw a young man lamely standing in her small kitchen. Half of his body was leaning at the wooden counter. He seemed to have been looking for something before he saw her.

And by where his head was facing, which was her shelf of instant noodles and canned goods, she knew what it was.

She gasped.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, I left you alone! Here," she said as she quickly took the bento out of the bag and handed it to him.

The young man took it in his hand.

Mai quickly pulled the small table to the middle of the room and led the young man to sit around it.

Upon sitting the young man down, Mai took the lid off the bento and went to the kitchen to prepare tea.

"I'm sorry I left you here," she said as she boiled water in her small kettle. "I had to meet some people tonight. Don't worry, it's not the authorities," she chuckled.

Oliver stared at her for a moment and then began to eat. He was familiar with the meals in the country so it didn't surprise him to see a box filled with steamy rice, sautéed vegetables, egg rolls, and strips of meat in a thick savoury sauce.

He then began to smell some tea.

He looked up and watched the girl give her a cup of hot tea.

"Here," she said as she laid the tea on the table. "Would you mind if I turn the TV on?"

Oliver took the cup and took a sip of the tea.

Mai waited for his response.

There was none.

"…Okay…I'll take that as a 'no,'" she said standing up and taking out her foldable 5" TV from a shelf and set it on a side of the table where both her and the young man could watch it.

She turned the TV on and moved the antenna to fix the picture on the screen.

Oliver raised a brow. It seemed like the best picture quality it could give was something with a line of snow moving up and down the screen.

"You call that TV," he snapped.

Mai pouted. "Hey! You can watch something in it, can't you?"

Oliver snorted and kept on eating. "It's not worth watching."

Mai wanted to scold him but she thought of his condition and instead took a deep breath to calm herself. "If you don't like to watch it, don't watch it," she said, fixing her eyes on the TV.

Oliver watched her as she watched the news. She seemed content in watching it.

Then the news program reported a car crash in an alley.

Oliver watched as the report showed a video of the cab he rode that morning.

Oh…so that's the place where he was in at that moment.

Mai stiffly turned her head to check the young man's reaction.

There was none.

Mai raised a brow. He looked like someone who didn't care.

Oliver felt her eyes on him so he stared at her. "Is there something that you want?"

Mai pouted in a frown. "Those people are dead. You don't have any reaction to that?"

"What do you want me to do? …Grieve for those strangers?"

Mai stared shocked at the man. "Are you a killer or something?"

Oliver glared at her. "Why should I explain myself to you?"

Mai gasped. "Hey! Are you really like this?"

"Why? Haven't you seen a male human being before?"

Mai frowned again. "For someone so handsome, you're quite a jerk, aren't you?"

"You think I'm handsome..?"

Mai froze and felt her cheeks heat up. "Y-yeah..?"

Oliver smirked. "For an idiot, you have good taste."

Mai gasped and stood up. "Why you..? You're so full of your self!"

"That's the statement a jealous person says to someone he's jealous of," he said sipping his tea.

"I am not jealous! Why on earth would I be jealous of a narcissistic jerk like you?"

"Why are you asking me that question? Aren't you the one who's jealous of me?"

Mai snorted. "I shouldn't have helped you."

"I never asked you to help me."

"Yeah, you ordered me to do it."

"You did it anyway."

Mai huffed, unable to think of anything she can snap back at him. "Well sorry I'm human enough to care about other humans," she said standing up and walking to a corner where a pile of books were.

For a moment, there was no other sound in the room but the small TV's.

Mai sighed and watched the young man eat peacefully. He looked so empty. She smirked.

"How long have you been awake?" the girl asked.

Oliver paused from eating. "Long enough for me to use the bathroom and look at your shelves to read the brands of canned goods and instant noodles that you have," he said.

Mai smiled and went back to the table with the books. She opened one of them and began to read. "I was really planning on taking you to a hotel or an apartment but I don't have enough money to book you a room there so…I took you here instead. But you're free to leave anytime."

Oliver kept his eyes on her. "Didn't your parents tell you to be careful of strangers?"

Mai glared at him. "If you want to tell me I'm an idiot, just do it. Leave my parents out of it," she snapped coldly.

Oliver stared at her with his shocked face hidden behind his emotionless mask.

Mai stood up and walked to the door. "Leave those in the sink when you're done. There's medicine in the counter."

Oliver sat alone as the door slammed shut.

He looked down at his empty cup of tea and sighed.


	5. Chapter 5

_Thank you so much for the reviews! I hope you enjoy the next chapters too ^ v ^_

* * *

><p>Oliver opened his eyes.<p>

It was dark. But he knew he wasn't inside a dream. He could see the window above him.

It was dark outside.

But there was a faint light that seemed to hit the wall. He slowly turned around and saw a curtain separating him from the rest of the room.

He could see a glow that most likely came from a candle.

He focused his eyes through the curtain and slowly saw the girl sitting on the floor and sewing something.

She sounded like she was sniffing but at the same time whispering something.

"_Hello. Nice to meet you. Mway name is Mai."_

Oliver raised a brow.

She sniffed again.

"Stop it, Mai," she snapped. She sniffed some more. "Stop…"

Oliver looked at the ceiling.

Before he went to bed, he checked his wallet and mobile phone. He also checked his bag and luggage.

Nothing was missing from his things. The amount of money in his wallet seemed to be the same amount he remembered seeing there before he boarded the plane.

She really was an idiot.

Oliver smirked and looked at the curtain again.

There were bags all over the floor.

He kept his eyes on her until his eyelids drooped and closed.

* * *

><p>Oliver winced. The light was blinding and he knew it meant one thing.<p>

He slowly opened his eyes and sat up.

The room was well lit by the window. He was about to stand up when he saw a note on the floor beside him.

_"Good morning,"_ it read in an English cursive script. _"I left food and medicine on the table. I'll be back in lunch. My name is Mai by the way."_

Oliver stared at the note and looked up at the small table in the middle of the room. And sure enough, there was a plate of food with a steaming cup of tea. His medicines were also on the table together with the 5" TV, ready to be turned on.

He smirked.

Mai sighed in relief while wiping the beads of sweat from her forehead.

It was Sunday and she had a job in the market place. She had just finished pulling the tubs of fish into the stall. Customers were starting to make their way to the stall.

"Mai-chan, start cleaning five of those!" cried a plump woman in the stall speaking with the customers.

"Yes, Kaname-san," Mai replied cheerily as she started weighing the fish and began to clean it.

It was always a pain-staking day for her. By the time the day ends, her clothes are soiled with blood and fish scales. And her scent would drive flies to frenzy.

But it was a good thing because that meant that the sale was good. They've been having difficulty emptying their stocks of fish for the past months due to growing competitions in the wet market. And so far, these pain-staking days are the only times where they were able to earn a lot.

Oliver ate his fill as he stretched his patience to watch the blurry news program on the extra small TV.

He still couldn't move his legs that much so he couldn't get out of the house. His head also still stung even after drinking his medicine.

Oliver sighed glaring at his weak physique. He was wasting so much time in the place already. And with that, he crawled to his luggage and took out a map. Remembering the report he heard last night about the wrecked cab, he scanned the map to mark the place where the girl found him. He drew a cross mark on it using a red marker from his bag and then drew a circle around the 'x' predicting where he probably was already.

He also began to scan the map for ways on how to get to where he needed to go and cross-checked it with a booklet that contained transportation information in the vicinity.

Mai was busy hauling and cleaning fish. It was almost noon and customers were avoiding the heat of noon. The stall was gradually clearing its stock of fish.

"Kaname-san," Mai said shyly after cleaning another pile of fish for the customers waiting on a line. "Can I leave for a minute or so later at noon?"

"Why?" the woman asked raising a brow at her after handing a bag of fish to a customer.

"I have to meet a classmate of mine for a project in school," she said trying not to flinch at the lie she was making. "The only time she's available is later at noon so I agreed to meet her to give her my notes for the project. It won't take long, I promise. I'll just give the note to her and then I'll run back here."

The woman grunted. "Where will you meet her?"

"She's not from here and she's not familiar with the market so I'll have to meet her at the park," Mai said cleaning another batch of fish and filling their tubs with new ones.

"Alright," Kaname said. "Just get back here soon after."

"Thank you so much, Kaname-san," Mai cheerfully said. She quickly finished her chores in an attempt to make up for the work she wouldn't be able to do once she left that noon.

Oliver sighed slumped on the small wooden table.

It had been only hours before he woke up but without anything else to do, it felt like it had been years.

He glared at the blurry image on the TV.

There were no news shows anymore. There were only dramas and other entertainment programs that did not at all entertain him.

He took a glance at his legs.

They were still sore. He had tried to stand up and walk half an hour ago. He ended up more sore and bruised from falling several times.

He sighed for the nth time that day, and slumped on the table again.

He wanted tea. He wanted the tea that he drank last night and that morning. He wanted to drink tea since he couldn't go out the house to do what he set out to do.

"Mai," he breathed.

He had always preferred being alone. But at that moment, perhaps because he could barely do anything other than sit or lie around, he averted staying in the house on his own.

"Mai," he breathed again. "…Tea…"

And he wanted the tea so bad that he felt like he was having withdrawal symptoms.


	6. Chapter 6

Mai was trying hard to calm her breath as she waited for her take-away order to be served. It was past noon when she was able to get out of the stall since her boss insisted that she help with the hauling of the left over fish. It was a good thing that her co-workers were kind enough to cut her work in half.

"Here you go, Mai-chan," the cook said handing her a small bag of newly cooked food. "I made it extra special for you since you look like you really need it."

Mai chuckled. "Thank you so much, Shinji-san," she said bowing her head. "I'll be off now. You have a great lunch!"

"You too," the man said waving his hand as Mai turned to run.

She checked the time in her wrist watch.

She gasped. "Oh dear, he must be starving now," she said as she began to quicken her pace.

Oliver glared at the clock.

She was more than thirty minutes late. He hated people who were late.

"Mai," he breathed for the nth time. "Where are you?"

He then heard hurried foot falls from outside.

He quickly eyed the door as he soon heard loud huffing sounds and clicks on the door knob.

Mai opened the door and found the young man seated in the table – his eyes fixed at her. "Hey, sorry I'm late," she breathlessly said as she ran to the kitchen and set the food on one of her plates. She quickly heated water and readied a cup for tea. "I had a lot to do so, bear with me for a moment okay?"

She didn't hear any response. She went on fixing his lunch. "What do you want to drink by the way? I have juice, water, tea…"

"Tea," Oliver said as he stared at her.

She was a mess. Her clothes were muddy, her hair was frizzier than he remembered, sweat dripped from her brows…and…

"You stink," the young man said.

Mai froze. Blood began to rush to her cheeks. "Sorry," she said shyly smiling at him. "It's nothing that a shower can't fix, I assure you. And don't worry, it won't contaminate your lunch." And with that she swiftly served the food on the table and turned her attention to making tea for him.

Oliver stared at his lunch – a plate of hot rice, saucy vegetables, egg rolls, and fried fish. He also had a cup of steamy soup. Everything smelled delicious though he had more sumptuous meals than this, but he was hungry so it was good enough for him.

He watched the girl make the tea. There was only one cup.

"Here," Mai said as she set the cup of tea on the table. She also left a bottle of water and a small pot of tea. "Just pour yourself a cup if you want more, okay? I have to go. Have a great meal!"

And with that she left the room, locking the door behind her and running off to the street.

Oliver stared at her. She seemed to have come from somewhere far, based on how drenched with sweat she was…not to mention how foul she smelled.

She smelled like fish.

Oliver eyed his lunch and sighed. It seemed like she already ate lunch. It wasn't as if he wasn't used to eating alone. He preferred it too.

But he did miss a company.

He began to prod the fish. It seemed okay.

He sighed again. He then began to eat.

* * *

><p>"Are you sure you don't want to walk home with us?" one of the men who working in the market asked Mai as they made their way out of the stalls.<p>

Mai nodded. "I need to go somewhere first."

"Ooh, a date?" teased another worker, elbowing Mai.

"No," Mai said, scowling at the man. "I don't do those."

"Why don't you, Mai-chan?" asked the thinnest man in the group. "Doesn't Takumi-kun ask you?"

The men burst into laughter as Mai's cheeks turned red.

"Stop it," Mai said. "Takumi-kun and I are just friends."

"Yeah, that's what they all say," commented one.

They again burst into laughter.

Mai chuckled, shaking her head. "Whatever," she said. "I'll be going now, bye!"

"You take care, Mai-chan!" the men greeted back.

Mai ran cheerfully to the restaurant.

Her pay was a little higher than usual since they were able to sell most of their stock. Though her salary had a deduction for skipping the lunch hour, she still had more than enough for the day.

She quickly ordered a meal for the young man.

Oliver sighed, looking up at the ceiling from his futon. It was again a very boring afternoon. He was practically glaring at the ceiling. If he had pyrokinesis, the house would have been burned to the ground.

He looked at the books in the corner again.

They were high school textbooks. It seemed that the girl was still studying. He had been reading the books waiting for any change that could happen in the house.

The house stayed the same. No one else came.

He remembered the pieces of paper that were slipped in between the books. He wasn't good at reading and writing kanji but he could understand that they were answers to the exercises on the books – self-study and advance reading notes.

The girl seemed eager to learn, most specially the English language. It was like she was preparing for something.

He also checked the cabinets and shelves.

Most of them had clothes – he even learned where her pairs of underwear were. She had quite a limited collection of couture for a girl her age. It was the same with her shoes. He wasn't sure about the underwear though.

One of the cabinets had blankets. It seemed like the only futon and pillow she had was the one he had been sleeping on.

And then there were towels and stored toiletries.

She didn't keep too many bottles of cologne like what girls her age usually did…at least based on those he had met before. She also barely had make up. All he saw in one shelf was a lip balm and powder, together with a deodorant stick.

She was clean – he had to admit that. Though the space seemed crowded, the things inside it were neatly arranged.

Oliver sat up and moved to the table.

No one else came to the house. There was no phone. There were no other letters there except the bill notices.

She seemed to have been living alone – far from her family. And she also didn't seem to come from a middle class family. After all, her apartment looked more like a small bedroom that was made to accommodate most if not all the parts of a typical house.

He wasn't in his own country though so perhaps that was a typical thing for residences..?

He sighed and buried his head on the pillow when he heard a click at the door.

…Finally…

He sat up and waited for the door to open, which wasn't that long, and watched the girl – Mai – greet him with that cheerful air that seemed to make up her personality.

Mai noticed the young man's lips slightly twitch – his eyes fixed at her. She looked away and sighed.

"I know," she said. "I know. I'm taking a bath. Here's dinner by the way," she said lifting a bag of food again.

It seemed like she didn't know how to cook. After all the only edible things Oliver saw in her shelves were instant noodles and canned goods. Her fridge was almost empty though it kept a few pieces of frozen hotdogs and chilled uncooked eggs.

He eyed her as she put the food on the plate.

She never seemed to have a share on the food she brought. It was always enough for one person.

After serving another complete meal for dinner that obviously came from a restaurant somewhere, she began to take out a cup from her small cupboard.

"Do you also want tea?" Mai asked as she checked her thermos for hot water.

"Yes," the young man said as he began to prod his meal for the night with a pair of chopsticks.

"Okay," Mai said as she began to boil water. She also took out the tea bags.

It was a long day and tomorrow was sure to be longer. She would be taking some quizzes and with all the work she had been doing, she hadn't exactly had enough time to study for them – not to mention she had a guest that needed her attention and budget allotments.

Truth be told, she was ashamed of making the young man eat instant noodles and cheap canned goods no matter how much of a 'jerk' he was.

He was a tourist – at least that was what she believed. And he had a bad experience from people of the same nationality as hers.

She was an odd girl. It wasn't the first time she had heard people say it but she was content in doing what she did that others viewed as idiocy.

So she just couldn't give him a taste of her impoverished dinners. And though she wanted to cook for him, she didn't have much time to prepare it for him on time.

She sighed as she poured the tea into the cups. She then served one cup and left the tea pot beside it on the small table. She drank the other cup of tea on her kitchen counter.

She let her eyes wonder while her thoughts moved inside her head.

Oliver kept an eye at her. He drank half of his tea and noticed that Mai was deep in thought. Her face was vacant.

For a moment he saw a touch of pain in her eyes.

At that same moment that it vanished, Mai placed her empty cup of tea in the sink.

"Just put your plate in the sink when you're done," she said with her back toward Oliver. "I'll just take a bath."

Oliver didn't answer and instead fixed his eyes on his food again.

Mai took a glance at him, seeing in his eyes that he had understood her. She smiled and went into the bathroom with a bath robe and towel in tow.


	7. Chapter 7

It was still very dark when Oliver found himself staring at the wall before him. There was a very faint light in the room – another candle light.

He slowly turned and saw the image of Mai sitting flat on the floor. Books, notebooks, and papers lay on the midget table while her hands seemed busy sewing the same things she seemed to sew last night.

She was mumbling words – terminologies most likely from a branch of chemistry.

He listened as he gazed at her dimly lit face that was opposite the candle.

It was Monday the next day. She must have a test or something that she was studying for. And by the things he was hearing, the subject was a hard one for an average student to pass.

After reading several notes from different subjects, she began to study English again – pronouncing various words and memorizing their meanings.

Oliver had to bite his lips from laughing at her flawed pronunciation of the words. The girl's tongue seemed too tough to correctly articulate it not to mention execute the European accent.

That sparked something in his head. She seemed to be preparing her self for somewhere in Europe.

Perhaps that was why she helped him. She noticed the stickers on his luggage that told anyone that he came from England. She must have been planning on asking help from him.

…An opportunist.

He glared at her faint image in the blanket that kept her from seeing him sleep.

Perhaps after he was better, she would ask him about it.

The next morning, she was gone again.

It was a school day after all.

Oliver tried to move his limbs. They didn't feel as painful as they were yesterday although it still agonizingly stung.

He tried to walk toward the small table where his breakfast with a cup of tea was. He was able to take a few steps without overtly wincing due to the pain.

And with that he smirked, realizing he would be able to leave the house and finally move around.

He looked at his breakfast – fried rice, hotdogs shaped like small octopuses, egg rolls…

He saw a small note beside the chopsticks.

'_Good morning_,' it read. '_I will be back for luncheon_. _The spare key is on the shelf in case you need to go out. I as well left a map beside it. Mai.'_

He smirked. She was just plain weird.

As far as he knew, he didn't look that much of a foreigner…well except if you look at his vibrant blue eyes. His hair was black, his eyes weren't that round, and his height wasn't similar to a typical Englishman. And as far as he knew, he was very fluent in the country's language. He stayed for five years in the country after all before he moved to England with his brother.

His brother…

He sighed. He needed to start moving. He didn't escape just to get stuck in a small hole with a stranger who seemed like an opportunist.

He ate his breakfast and prepared for his first trip out of the rat hole.

* * *

><p>Mai sighed in relief.<p>

The first quiz was over. She was able to answer the questions but she didn't know if she would pass. She didn't have enough time to study anymore after all.

She looked out at the window as they waited for their next teacher to arrive in their classroom for the second class period for the day.

She could see her eyes drooping on her reflection on the glass. There were also dark shades beneath her eyes where it seemed slightly swollen.

She scowled at her reflection. She looked hideous again – not that there was anything she believed that could improve her appearance.

Not even cutting her brown locks to keep it at shoulder length seemed to modify anything in her appearance. She just lost the pig tails. Other than that, she looked dreadfully the same.

She looked back to the front of the room upon hearing the teacher walk in.

She wanted to sleep and it took all of her strength to keep her awake. They soon began the scheduled written quiz for the subject.

The letters were blurring with every moment that she stared at them but she forced her self to focus and recall the things she reviewed.

After answering half of the quiz, she found her self thinking about her guest – the handsome young jerk whose name she didn't even know.

Could the name on the luggage be correct? Shibuya Kazuya..?

He seemed to have come from England though, despite his fluency in Japanese. And he had blue eyes. He must have been born as half-English.

So could that name be correct?

She wondered what he was doing at that moment. Had he eaten his breakfast? Had he taken his medicine? Had he been able to walk that morning? Had he decided to go out of the house? Did he read the note she left?

…The note…

She wanted to write in her own language since he seemed like he would understand it. But Yui's inability to easily comprehend written Japanese, specially kanji, made her think twice about it.

After all, he was a tourist. He might know how to speak but not much when it came to reading or writing. And since he came from England, she figured English would be best.

Hopefully she didn't offend him in any grammar mistakes she had on her notes for him. And since he didn't complain last time, she figured it was okay.

And with that she went back to reading the remaining questions for the test.


	8. Chapter 8

Oliver sat himself on the waiting area of the hospital. There was a line of people waiting for their names to be called by the physician.

The first thing that he looked for after overcoming his fear of riding cabs again was a hospital where he could have his injuries examined. Since he was able to walk inside the hospital, he was sure that he wouldn't be advised to be confined.

He hated hospitals after all – the stench of disinfectants, the blinding white sceneries, the sickening sound of heart monitors…the awful food…

"Shibuya-san?" the nurse called as she approached with a clipboard in hand.

Oliver slowly stood up to minimize the painful sting he was feeling in his limbs while he moved.

The nurse smiled at him – the usual smile that he got from any female or homosexual nurse he came across with.

"Dr. Matsuzaki will see you now," she said. "Please follow me."

Oliver made the most graceful strides he could muster with his pained legs. He could feel eyes all over him. Perhaps wearing the grey newsboy cap and vest was a bad idea.

It felt chilly outside and he was too pained and lazy to pull out his black coat from his luggage so he instead pulled out the easiest cover he could use over his black collard and buttoned polo shirt.

And he remembered that he had to thank Mai for saving his newsboy cap. He thought he had lost it in the car crash.

He went in to a room where a red-haired woman in a white coat read something on a clip board.

"Dr. Matsuzaki," the nurse said. "This is Shibuya-san."

The woman looked at him and smirked. "Well hello there hottie," he said. "I'm Ayako Matsuzaki – your attending physician. And what kind of harm was inflicted to your precious physique?

Oliver glared at her and sat on the bed. "I didn't know they allowed sexual harassments in this hospital," he said.

Ayako glared back at him. "Excuse me," she exclaimed. "I'm a doctor and I am strictly professional when it comes to my work."

"I see. I'm just not used to speaking with a doctor who uses the word 'hottie' to refer to their patients, and the phrase 'precious physique' to their patients' body."

Ayako scowled. "You're quite a jerk aren't you?"

"Ah so knowing your rights against sexual harassment is a ground to becoming a 'jerk,'" Oliver said smirking. "I've never heard that before. I guess you're more of a teacher than a doctor, aren't you?"

"Why you…"

"I guess I went to the wrong room," Oliver said standing up and walking to the door. "I was looking forward to having a medical consultation with a physician, not a paedophile."

"Paedophile," Ayako exclaimed. "How old do you think am I?"

"Surely not any younger than me," he said as he took a step in the hallway.

"You pompous jerk," Ayako said glaring holes at the young man. "Go ahead. You won't find any other available physicians with how you act."

"I won't mind," he replied smirking at the woman. "I heard there are a lot of hospitals in town. This path here leads to the main office of this hospital, right? I'll just leave a suggestion to this hospital about doctors harassing their patients."

Ayako's face flushed with embarrassment. "No one will listen to you."

"Then you shouldn't warn me like that now, correct?"

Ayako huffed in anger and took a deep breath. "Fine..! Close that door and tell me what's wrong, Shibuya-san."

"How would I be sure that you won't pounce me?" Oliver said, his eyes flaring with slyness beneath his mask of innocence.

"Leave the door open then," she muttered. "I see in the nurse's report that your legs are in pain. I need to examine them without your black pants hiding them. I don't have x-ray vision after all."

Oliver walked back in. "Dressing room..?"

"That door," she said pointing to a small door in the room. "There's a hospital gown there."

Oliver walked to the door and went in to change.

Ayako gritted her teeth as she read the notes on her clipboard about what her patient was feeling.

Mai watched her classmates play volley ball. She was lucky that their group was in charge of officiating the game instead of playing for that day.

She was on the scoring board, tallying the scores.

Her classmates also seemed to notice her groggy state. Even their PE teacher asked her if she was okay with going out to participate in the activity.

She didn't like being confined to the clinic again. She had worried her friends and burdened her teachers with having to check her condition all the time.

So she smiled and went to the court with them. The class insisted that she stand by the score board instead of standing on the lines so she didn't work her self out that much.

She didn't like the special treatment but she had to admit that she liked being there. At least she could sit and slightly relieve her body of the tension it received from consecutive days of work.

"Well common pain killers would be fine," Ayako said, eyeing the bruised legs Oliver had. "Take a tablet of Mefenamic Acid every six hours since it's still swollen. It will also relieve you of the pain."

Oliver nodded as he looked at the bluish purple marks on his legs.

"I'm actually amazed at how your wounds are healing," Ayako said smiling at him. "Whoever treated you knew what he or she was doing. The wound on your head is healing quite well and the medicines you've been taking are correct – even the dosages."

Oliver hid his surprise behind a blank expression.

"I'm also surprised at how you got these injuries," Ayako said smirking as she wrote on the record with the name 'Shibuya Kazuya.' "But seeing your expression, I'd say you wouldn't want to talk about it even with the police."

"It was an accident that had been resolved already," Oliver said.

Ayako nodded. "If you say so," she said signing on the record that was on her clip board. "You can go change now. If you feel anything else in your body after taking the medicine, just ask for me or set up an appointment so we can check it out."

She then handed him a note with the medicine and dosages for his injuries. It also had her name and contact number.

"Just call that number to set up an appointment," Ayako said. She then looked at him with a smirk on her face. "I have to admit you're not that difficult for a patient. You're a jerk but you're not that bad," she said shrugging her shoulders. "You can go change now."

Oliver nodded and walked to the changing room. "You're quite tolerable yourself for a paedophile."

"What..!"

Oliver walked out of the room before Ayako could scold him.

Mai sat in her desk smiling at the stories her friends were sharing around her.

The topic for that day's break period was the specific gestures that differentiated their teachers from one another. There was that teacher who couldn't help but use his middle finger when pointing at students for emphasis in his lectures; a teacher whose eye lids closed for three seconds every five seconds of lecturing; a teacher who always looked groggy for some reason; and more.

Mai was enjoying their exaggerated imitations of the teachers as they made their talk similar to a guessing game.

Her friends advised her to take a nap but she figured it would cause her to fall asleep more after the break was done. So she listened to their chat hoping it would take her mind off of sleeping.

The noise didn't help much but she did enjoy it.

Mai sighed silently as she took a glimpse at the scenery outside the window.

The young man seemed better than the first time she saw him so she thought perhaps he would be able to move around more. And by move around, judging by the length of the stick that seemed to stick up from his behind, that would most likely include a trip outside her house.

Mai smiled sadly.

Maybe he would even try to visit a hotel and move out. Then she would have the house to her self again.

Mai looked back at her friends as they laughed. For some reason, even with the cold treatment that Naru was giving her, she couldn't find a reason to develop an aversion towards him.

Wait…Naru..? Oh right…she hasn't asked him about his name – if it was in deed the 'Kazuya Shibuya' written on the luggage. And since he was so narcissistic, she labelled him 'Naru.'

She will hate Naru – yes. But her definition of 'hate' wasn't the same as an average person's. She might dream of torturing him for his behaviour but not want it to happen to him in reality.

She figured it was because she believed that deep inside he was a kind person – that he won't mean her harm. And she had to admit that she admired him, not just because he was undoubtedly gorgeous but also because he seemed strong.

She had always wanted to be strong. But she usually ended up bothering people – making them worry, making them spare her some time and even money…

She was very grateful to people. In fact she was too grateful that she didn't want them to be burdened with her.

Mai looked down at her hands. He was her guest and yet she couldn't attend to him. She rarely even spoke to him.

He was wounded and yet she didn't attend to his wounds that much after his first night in the house. She was always too busy for him.

She wanted to be more hospitable to him. She believed that he needed to be cared for since he didn't seem to know anyone else in the country.

But she also had to work. One more year and she would graduate. And hopefully she would get a job in Europe with a help from her friend.

She would fulfil her parent's dreams.

Mai looked up at her friends again and acted as if she had been listening from the start of their conversations.

There were so many things running through her mind – all of it waiting to be sorted out. At that moment however she wanted to relax a little while she could.

* * *

><p>Oliver read the signs as he walked down the street. It was almost lunch and despite his head telling him to just eat lunch somewhere, his stinging legs led him to the way back to Mai's hole.<p>

He sighed as he walked with his head bowed and lips unconsciously in a pout.

The hole was so crammed up and ugly, it didn't fit to be called a 'house' or an 'apartment.' And yet there he was making his way through the small crowd walking to and fro on the street.

He had passed several restaurants. He took a slight glimpse at all of them through its windows and menus. And though he firmly felt his wallet inside his pocket, he couldn't seem to find enough strength to at least buy anything to eat.

He ignored the stares he received from girls and women that he passed.

He liked his looks. There were a lot of perks to it but it also had a lot of drawbacks. And the stare was one of them.

He chose to ignore it and instead focused on memorizing the places that he had passed and the path that he took to get to them. At first he planned on saving a reservation in a hotel but after realizing one thing that he didn't realize before he rode the airplane days ago, he decided to just stay in the 'hole' for a few more days and just think about it again after his bruises were completely healed.

He was still in town when he noticed children and teenagers walking with their uniforms on.

That of course meant that Mai would be on her way for lunch.

His legs unconsciously sped up his pace despite the stings it gave him.

Mai was running in the alley.

It was past lunch time again. She was undoubtedly dishonouring her countrymen with her sense of time.

Upon turning to face her apartment however she saw the young man in front of her door – opening the door with the spare key that she left.

"Oh hey," she breathlessly greeted as she walked towards him.

He looked back at her while he twisted the door knob.

She smiled at him and noticed a small paper bag in his hand. She recalled what it was. "Oh you went to the hospital," she said smiling brightly. The young man opened the door and waited for her to go in before he took a step into the house.

She sighed in relief. "I was worried about not taking you to a doctor immediately. I was actually planning on taking you there tomorrow," she said as she headed straight to the kitchen and began to fill the plates with the meal she bought for her guest. "So how was it? What did the doctor say?" she asked – looking at him and waiting for a reply.

"I'm fine," he said as he sat down near the small table.

Mai nodded, understanding that he wouldn't say anything more. "I'm sorry I couldn't take you there earlier," she apologetically said as she began to fix her self a cup of tea. "I have school," she continued shyly. "Would you like some tea?"

"I know," he said. "Yes."

She smirked. "So did the doctor say how long before you could fully recover?"

"Why do you like to know?"

She froze. It came out wrong, didn't it? "Hey," she shyly said. "It's not like I'm kicking you out or anything. I just want to know so... I'd know." She had her back on him – unable to think of what he would look like if she faced him.

He didn't reply.

She sighed and shyly turned to look at him. His handsome face was free of any trace of emotion.

"You're my guest and yet I… I haven't been treating you well so I guess I want to make it up to you," she said.

Was she crazy? She seemed to be spending more for food because of him. And though her accommodations never even dared to match a hotel or apartment accommodation, he had to admit it was tolerable if not good enough.

"And I also want to help you if ever you need to move out to a hotel and stuff," she said – still trying hard not to blush at what she was saying.

Oliver sighed. She sounded like she was hooking him up into something.

"Don't worry, I won't knock on your hotel room door or whatever after you leave," she quickly said. "I'll just…help you carry your things in a cab and stuff."

Oliver stood up and took the small TV from the shelf and placed in on top of the table. He turned it on and adjusted the antenna to slightly clear up the picture on the screen.

"I'll be good in a week," he said.

Mai smiled and served the food.


	9. Chapter 9

The next days were similar to the next despite Mai's extra effort to make friendly talks to him every now and then. And since Oliver persistently showed a cold and narcissistic behaviour to her, she slowly realized that being a 'jerk' was indeed part of his nature.

She wasn't the only one who realized a thing or two about her housemate however. Oliver himself realized a lot of things concerning his host's behaviour.

For one she was in deed an idiot. She kept working day and night, barely sleeping to earn money without realizing that with all the hard work she was doing she most likely would send her self in the hospital to drain her savings dry.

He ignored it though, realizing that he wasn't one to speak about pushing one's limits to the ends of the universe since he tended to not sleep as well when he worked back in England.

Another thing he realized was that she had several jobs – some of them over working her with a low pay and Mai, being the idiot she was, didn't much care as long as she had the occupation.

Ever since Oliver realized that he could walk around again, he had been walking the streets in pursuit of the reason why he escaped his home. And he would see her more than once in a day working in various shops and stalls. He even saw her wearing an apron and fixing tables in an old tea shop – probably where she got her tea bags from – when he passed the said shop one weekday afternoon in an after-school hour.

She would come home in time for dinner where she would serve him a meal she bought from some restaurant. She was idiot enough to spend so much in dear meals instead of just cooking something.

He remembered how one day, when his bruises fully healed, he left some cash on the table to pay her for her accommodations. After all, she was being hospitable enough and he was taking out a good portion of her food budget in his stay.

The idiot declined and just gave him the money again, telling him that he was a 'guest' and guests don't pay their hosts. She also said that her place was not much of a hotel for the amount of money he had offered her.

She was plainly put – hopeless.

Oliver sighed watching her sew again that night, through the blanket separating his corner of the room from hers. Bags again were on the floor in two separate piles.

"_Dher were some most singurar points abo-ut the man_," she mumbled – obviously reading something from the table.

Oliver sighed and glared at the ceiling. She was horrible in speaking.

"_In ordinary ri-fe he was a si-ti-r…_"

"Strict," the young man's voice echoed in the room.

Mai froze – her blood filling her face into a furious blush. "Oh…you're awake…"

She heard him sit up and right after that, she saw him creep out of the blanket curtain and sit across from her, staring at the pile of bags on the floor.

"_In ordinary life he was strict_," he said still eyeing the bags.

"Thank you," Mai shyly said.

"Read it again," he sharply said as he crossed his arms over his chest and glared at her.

Mai froze as fear crept up her spine. She quickly turned to her book. "_In ordinary…"_

"From the top," he said still glaring at her.

She nodded.

"_Dher were…"_

_ "__**There **__were,"_ he corrected.

Mai swallowed. "_There were some most singurar…"_

_ "…__**Singular**__…"_

_ "…Singurar…"_

Oliver leaned forward glaring fiercely at Mai. "**Sing**_..."_

_ "…Sing…"_

_ "..__**gyu**__.."_

_ "…gyu…"_

_ "…__**lar**__…"_

_ "…r…l.."_

Oliver sighed and pulled her face closer with his right hand – his fingers gripping her chin. "Show me your tongue."

Mai could feel the heat radiating from her face. She slowly stuck out her tongue.

"Put your tongue behind your front teeth. Make sure its tip touches the ceiling of your mouth that is right above your teeth."

She did what she was told.

"Now make a sound while pressing the tip of your tongue forward."

"..L.."

"Now do it five times."

"…L…L…L…L…L…"

"This time after making that sound, say 'ah.'"

"…La…"

"Do it ten times."

"La…La…La...La…La…La…La…La…La…La…"

"Now make the first sound followed by 'ee' to make 'lee.' Do it ten times."

Mai did what she was told. After that, she did another set of exercises that made the sounds 'lu,' 'leh,' 'loh.' He then told her to say all the sounds in various sequences – ten times each.

"_Singular,"_ Oliver said.

"_Singular," _Mai said.

"Read it again."

"_There were some most singular points abo-ut…_"

"…_**About…**_"

"…about the man," Mai ended.

"Again," Oliver said looking at the bags again.

"_There were some most singular points about the man."_

"Continue."

"_In ordinary li-fe…"_

"_**Life**_."

"…_life he was a strict Pah-ri-tan..."_

_ "__**Puritan**__," _he corrected. "That's Sherlock Holmes."

Mai gasped in shock. "How did you…"

"Shouldn't you be sleeping now? You still have classes tomorrow."

Mai looked down. "I need to finish these first," she said sewing a pocket on the bag she was holding.

"You'll fall asleep in class," he said eyeing the stitches she was doing on the pockets. "You'll end up more stupid than you already are."

Mai scowled. "I study hard you know! I can read, write and do math. I also know a lot about history."

"And yet you're an idiot," he muttered.

Mai frowned. "Would it kill you to be kind for a while? Just because I'm not as good as you are in speaking English doesn't mean I'm that stupid."

Oliver eyed her. "Really," he said. "I find it hard to believe even if by some miracle you end up fluent in English."

Mai glared at him. "What is it with me that you hate me so much?"

"I don't hate you," Oliver said looking away. "You're really just an idiot."

Mai huffed and looked back at her work. "Why don't you just go to sleep?"

"Your light is keeping me up."

Mai froze in shame. "I'll move outside," she said standing up.

"Too late. You've already ruined my sleep."

Mai sighed and looked at him. "But you need to sleep."

"Read. I'm sure by how awful you're reading I'll end up bored enough to sleep," he said leaning his back against he nearest wall – which was a cabinet.

Mai smiled. "Suit yourself."

She began to read out loud again and he continued to correct her wrong pronunciations until she read it without much flaw. He ignored the weird accent since it couldn't be cured in one sitting. He knew she would have to be exposed to the language more to learn it.

Mai noticed his eyes as it slowly began to droop. She smiled. "I never got your name," she said. "Is it the one on your luggage?"

"Why else would that name be on my luggage?"

Mai frowned. "You're really so full of your self, Shibuya-san."

"Mai."

"Yes?" Mai asked in surprise at his use of her first name.

"Tea."

Mai flushed. "Okay," she said standing up and heading to the kitchen.

It was silent again but she could sense that he was still awake. She served him the tea and waited for him to say something.

She watched him sip his tea without a word.

Oliver put the cup down and stared at Mai. "What do you want?"

Mai shrank back and frowned. "You're welcome..?"

Oliver continued to sip his tea.

Mai scowled and glared at him. "Jerk," she muttered. She then went back to sewing a pocket on another bag she picked up.

Silence filled the room as Oliver sipped the tea.

Mai suddenly looked up at him. "Hey Naru, how are your legs by the way?"

Oliver raised a brow at Mai. "What did you just call me?"

Mai flushed and covered her mouth.

She was in deed an idiot, wasn't she?

"Naru..?" she said. "…For being so narcissistic?"

Oliver glared at her.

"Well you are," she defensively said. "And I'm going to call you 'Naru' from now on."

Oliver focused his attention on his tea.

"So…how are your legs?" Mai asked again.

"They're still legs," he said.

Mai scowled and kicked his leg.

"Ouch!" Naru glared at her. "You're being childish."

Mai stuck out her tongue.


	10. Chapter 10

"You would have to ride the train to go there, Shibuya-san," the clerk told Naru.

It was Friday and he spent his day going to the tourism office to ask directions on how to go to the places he needed to go to.

"Here are the maps that you can use," the clerk continued. "That also has the train schedules and hotlines you can use to reserve a cab or an accommodation."

"Thank you," he said after paying for the maps. He walked out of the office thinking about which place he should go to first. He rode a bus and began his trip to the lake that was closest to the city.

Mai wiped the counter top and swiftly took her tray of used cups to the kitchen.

It was early in the morning and though there weren't a lot of customers yet, and she chose to spend the non-working holiday by busying herself in the tea shop.

She smirked after washing the dishes.

Her boss – an old woman by the name of Haruka Mako – said that the shop was put up around the time when the country opened its doors wider to foreign trade by her ancestors who decided to venture into selling tea.

Despite the various change in the place, the shop miraculously survived and evolved into a café that served various kinds of tea and pastries.

But Haruka-san still called it a tea shop since they still sold various packages of tea.

"Mai-chan," called a gentle voice from the counter. "We have an order – a cup of black tea."

"Yes, Haruka-san," Mai cheerfully replied as she pranced to the kitchen and prepared the tea.

She merrily served the tea to the customer in a table reading a morning newspaper.

"Your order, sir," she said placing the cup of tea on the table.

"Thank you," the man replied nodding at her and taking a sip at the tea. He smiled and went back to reading his newspaper.

Mai walked back to the counter and noticed the sweet smile on her employer's fair plump and wrinkled face. She was eighty-five years old and yet traces of her youthful beauty was still present.

She was the type of grandmother that looked so cuddly and huggable.

"Oh child," Haruka-san said touching her hand softly. "How thankful I am to have you in this café to serve these good people your delicious tea! Why I don't know how this shop would run without you anymore."

Mai chuckled. "You're being too kind, Haruka-san," she said. "You're the one who taught me how to prepare tea, remember?"

"And you've surpassed my skills," she said giggling excitedly. "You're truly a gift, dear."

Mai smiled warmly at her.

For her it was the other way around. Of all the jobs she had, working in the tea shop was her favourite. Not only does she like the job of preparing tea and doing chores similar to house work.

Haruka-san was also the best employer she had.

Mai was treated more like a grandchild than an employee. She remembered how she got the job. She was basically lifeless when she moved to town. She was a complete mess.

For some reason her endless wandering led her to the shop one day. Haruka-san gave her a cup of tea for free after seeing her walking aimlessly alone in the alley.

Mai was too guilty to accept the tea for free so she asked Haruka-san to allow her to work for it instead. After leaving Haruka-san no option to keep Mai from working for her gift, Mai washed the dishes and cleaned the shop.

Before Mai left for home, Haruka-san asked her to work for her if she had time. Mai happily accepted the offer.

She had been working for Haruka-san for the past three years.

"How is that lad you rescued by the way? Naru..?" Haruka-san whispered childishly to Mai as if they were teenagers talking about their teenage lovers.

Mai chuckled. "He's better now," she said. "He can move around and outside the house."

Haruka-san giggled. "So has he asked you out?"

Mai's face flushed red. "Haruka-san! He's just a guest."

The old woman chuckled. "Oh but you did say that he was handsome and almost your age, was he not?"

Mai looked away. "Yes he's very handsome…"

"Then why aren't you dating yet? Was it not love at first sight that you had when you saw him in that wreckage?"

Mai swallowed hard covering her flaming cheeks with her hands. "Haruka-san! It's not like that. Besides he's…like you said handsome so he would most likely be involved with someone already, right?"

Haruka-san sighed pouting her lips making her face look cuter than a stuffed toy. "Have you asked him that?"

Mai furiously shook her head. "Why would I ask him that?"

"How on earth would you end up with him if you don't ask?"

Mai chuckled. "He would kill me…I think."

Haruka-san chuckled. "Have you talked to him? I mean other than about his wounds..?"

Mai nodded. "He's been helping me study English."

Haruka-san sighed. "You're really going to England?"

Mai smiled sadly. "Takumi-kun was able to get a possible employer for me there. But I'll finish high school and go into training for the work first." She bowed her head and began to tidy up the counter again.

Haruka-san eyed her carefully. "Do you really want to go there?"

Mai stopped and sighed. "My parents always wanted to tour there for some reason. But they died even before they could do it. I want to fulfil their dreams."

Haruka-san smiled sadly – shaking her head. "But what do **you** want, Mai-chan? I don't think your parents will get upset with you if you don't fulfil their dream of visiting some country. I'm sure they would be happier to see you fulfilling your own dream."

Mai smirked. "My dream…I don't think I have one."

Haruka-san chuckled. "Don't tell me you've forgotten what you told me when we first met, dear."

Mai looked at Haruka-san's smiling black eyes and remembered what she had said.

Mai told Haruka-san about her parents and how clueless she was on what she had to do next.

Haruka-san asked her what she wanted to do – what she dreamed of doing.

"I want to have a family," she told Haruka-san while her eyes gazed at her warm cup of green tea. "I want to be a good mother like my mother. I want to raise my children and grow old enough to see them with their own children. I want to be a good wife like my mother was to my father. And I want to grow old with my husband the way my father and mother wanted to do with each other."

"That was a silly dream though, don't you think?" Mai said. "…Dreaming of being a wife and mother…"

Haruka-san laughed while she shook her head. "Who do you think in this world is more admirable – a working woman who earns millions for her self, or a wife and mother working for her family's well being?"

Mai smiled. "Haruka-san, why didn't you marry again after your husband died?"

Haruka-san smiled and shrugged her shoulders. "I guess like your mother, I found that soul intended just for me even though he was quite a head ache at times."

Mai chuckled.

Haruka-san laughed with her. She then sighed. "And I wouldn't have him any other way."

Mai looked down at her hands. "So if you were given the chance to change anything in your past…"

"I wouldn't change a thing, dear," she said. "My years with him were the best years of my life. Those head aches and heart aches though painful are the sweetest memories of how idiot we were when it came to our devotion to one another. And I've realized that if those things didn't happen perhaps I wouldn't have met you, dear," she said looking at Mai now. "And it would break my heart if I missed meeting you, child."

Mai smiled and hugged the old woman. "I'm very happy I met you too."

Haruka-san chuckled. "I have an extra bag of black tea in the back. Take them when you go later."

"Thank you, Haruka-san. Naru seems to love your tea."

Haruka-san laughed. "Well nobody can in deed resist your cups of tea, dear."

Mai blushed. "Haruka-san!"

The two laughed and continued to attend to the shop's customers.


	11. Chapter 11

"Do you know a priest named John Brown?" Naru asked a man in a newspaper stall. He had just bought a copy of the morning paper from him since he also needed to monitor the news.

"Yes," the man said in a jolly air. "He's in the church right now, I think. He just bought a paper from me. He always does. He's quite a good fellow – Father Brown."

Naru nodded.

"Just go straight by the road," the man said pointing to the street Naru was in. "Go left on the first intersection, and then keep walking straight till you reach a round curving to the right. That last road will lead you straight to the church."

Naru bowed. "Thank you."

"It's a pleasure to help," he said smiling at him.

Naru followed the direction and sure enough he reached a Catholic Church. He gazed at it before he went in through the open door.

Inside the church he saw a young man with hair glowing like a halo beneath the rays of light that came from the glass mosaic windows. He wore the black clothes of a typical priest.

He seemed busy arranging the flowers on the altar.

"Father Brown," Naru called.

The man stopped and slowly looked at Naru. The priest's blue eyes widened at the sight of him. His fair face looked too young for a priest handling a diocese. His lips then curved into a warm smile.

John walked toward Naru.

"You can call me John," John said in his Australian accent. "You must be Noll."

Naru kept his face blank. "I heard you spoke with my brother once."

John nodded. "Yes I did. He came here to seek help in his research about how the Catholic method of exorcism could affect even those who are not Catholic but strive to live a life of righteousness. It is quite a research."

Naru nodded. "When was the last time that you saw him?"

John thought for a moment before he answered. "That would be last month, I believe. Is something the matter?" he asked with worry etched on his face.

Naru looked away. "He's…gone."

John froze – a portrait of sadness, grief, and shock apparent in his face. He looked away, covering his gaping mouth with his shaking hand.

Naru watched his warm expression turn into that of sadness and grief.

"I'm…I'm sorry," he said weakly.

Naru looked down at his feet. He remembered what Gene told him about the priest in front of him. He was a very kind man with a face that always shined like the morning sun. He was optimistic and cheerful.

By what he could see now however he was sure that he brought the man a drastic change in his usual cheery self. He felt guilty about causing such pain to him but he also needed to know about it.

John was a good friend of Gene's while he was there. He had the right to know what had happened to Gene.

John wiped the moisture forming in his eyes with the back of his hand. "Let's talk outside. Have you eaten breakfast?"

Naru followed him out of the church. They walked past a garden with a vibrant canopy of flowering vines shielding them from the morning sun.

Mai looked at the clock on the wall of the shop.

It was almost noon.

She sighed. For the past weeks, Naru had been wandering off on his own everyday. She would at times get home without him in the house.

The first time it happened she almost panicked. She waited at her doorstep for him. He got home in time for dinner.

At first she thought he was being the tourist that he was – exploring the place. She noticed several maps on the corner of her apartment that became his personal space.

But his eyes were filled with disappointment and anger. He was quieter than he usually was. He just walked into his personal corner, not minding her presence.

He must have felt her eyes on him because after a minute or two, he looked back at her and spoke in a vulnerably gentle tone.

"Don't mind me."

Mai could feel that something was wrong with him. She wanted to help but she knew any effort to do so at that moment would only make things worse.

Mai nodded slowly and looked away.

He also looked away and said the two words that Mai began to hate ever since they became a bit more comfortable with each other.

"Mai, tea."

But she didn't hate it at that moment. She was more willing to serve him a cup even if he didn't ask. It seemed to be the only thing she can do to soothe him from whatever it was that he was keeping.

Mai shook her head to get her thoughts away from the first time Naru looked so helpless. She didn't like seeing him in that way. She preferred seeing his narcissistic air boss her around.

At least he wasn't in pain…although that meant that **she** was in pain instead.

Mai sighed again. She seemed to be developing a habit of sighing whenever she thought of him – must be the anxiety kicking her badly.

He seemed to know what he was doing so there was no reason for her to worry so much about him.

But…she couldn't help but wish that things could be like they were three weeks ago – back when she went home at lunch and saw Naru either forcing himself to watch the small TV on the table or reading his maps and papers with his legs stretched on the floor.

Mai smirked. She seemed to be growing some sort of attachment with him – not good.

But she admitted to her self that it didn't seem like something that she could help her self from doing. Naru was…annoyingly adorable despite his rotten attitude.

She sighed again after bidding Haruka-san good bye to have her lunch at home – just in case Naru was there. He didn't seem to be eating there without her.

"Are you going to eat lunch with me today?" she whispered as she walked down the street.

Naru rode a train.

He looked out the window and watched the scenery pass in a blur.

He had been wandering for a long time ever since his bruises healed. And so far none of his quests yielded anything of use until he visited the priest.

Naru took a deep breath and sighed recalling his conversation with John.

"The last time I saw him was about two months ago," John said after serving Naru a cup of tea.

Naru took a sip as John sat across from him.

They were seated around a round table in the garden. John took out some tea and cookies since Naru insisted that he already ate breakfast.

"He wrote letters to me since then," John continued. "The last letter I received was about three weeks ago. He said that he was on his way to consulting a medium – the famous one here in the country that goes by the name of Hara Masako. I didn't receive any letters after that telling me that he reached her. I can give you the letters. I keep the letters I receive just in case I need to check something from them in the future."

"Please," Naru said . "It would be a great help."

John nodded. "Please bear with me for a moment while I get my letter box."

John left and quickly walked toward a building – probably the priest quarters.

John was an Australian priest who was sent to the country to help out in the parish. His kind nature earned him great respect from the people – even those who weren't Catholic. And receiving permission from the Vatican to perform exorcisms, he became one of the first people that town folks, both Catholic and non-Catholic, approached when they encountered supernatural events.

For some reason, his exorcisms gave the same effect on paranormal activities that involved non-Catholics – an idea that Gene found interesting. So he visited his Parish and made several interviews and experiments with him for his study. He also observed some instances where exorcisms were performed – all of which had the permission of the people involved that the cases would be recorded and studied by Gene.

Naru frowned. Gene just had to do his study alone for some unknown reason.

John came back with an old wooden box. He sat down and lifted the lid to browse the letters.

Naru could clearly see the piles of paper that were neatly stacked – all in various colours and all stapled with envelopes where they were most likely sent with. A lot of them seemed to come from Australia. Some of them were from Italy, America, South Korea…

Naru then noticed a stack of letters that had a very familiar hand written script on it. It came from some place in the country.

Naru almost jolted to stand upon seeing them being handed to him.

He knew who wrote them.

Naru immediately read them one by one – making sure he remembered the addresses of the sender on each envelope.

He read the last letter first.

"Do you by any chance know where this Hara Masako is now?" Naru asked.

John thought for a moment. "From what I recall, she stays in a villa up north when it's this time of the year. Her show's latest season had just ended and according to the news, she would be on vacation first before they make the next season so I'd say she's there. I'm not that sure. I have the address here," John said as he looked inside his letter box again. "I wrote to her in behalf of Gene since I met her once in a case. She wrote back using the address of her villa."

After a few minutes of browsing his stack of letters, he pulled out one of them and handed it to Naru.

Naru read it and immediately copied the address in the small notebook that he had in his pocket. "Thank you," he told John as he handed the letter back.

John smiled and nodded. "I'll leave you here to read the letters," he said standing up to avoid any objections from Naru.

Naru stared at the letters. After a moment or two, he went back to reading them.

Naru found his self seated in a train again. He was heading north.

He looked out the window again. He left John the letters since it was all made and sent for John. Besides, the man was kind enough to earn parts of Gene's memories.

Naru looked at his watch.

It was way past lunch. The sun was on its way to the horizon.

He thought about Mai. She might have waited for him that lunch. But it was no time to think about her.

After all once he was finished, she would be gone from his memories the way he would be from her own.

Naru felt a slight twitch in his chest. He didn't seem to like the idea for some reason.

But she was a stranger…an insignificant person who ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time.

…And yet…

Naru closed his eyes and thought about the things he had been doing. This particular lead could make or break everything. He might even end up going back to England by tomorrow.


	12. Chapter 12

Mai sat blankly as she stared at the food she prepared for supper. It was almost nine o'clock and Naru wasn't home. Her nerves were tingling.

Did something bad happen to him?

Did he get lost somewhere?

Did he encounter some of those goons again?

Was he coming home?

Mai looked at the luggage with the name 'Shibuya Kazuya.' Surely he would come back to get them at least..?

Mai took a deep breath and forced her self to eat.

He might have just gone a little late than usual.

* * *

><p>Naru looked at the road that passed in the window of the car he rode.<p>

Naru called Hara Masako, with John's help, about his plan to visit her that evening. Upon arrival, a car sent by Masako picked him up with instructions to drive him to the villa.

So far Naru could see nothing but a road in the middle of villages if not of trees.

"Is there another way to reach the villa?" Naru asked the driver.

"There isn't any, sir," he answered politely.

Naru nodded. "Do you also have a lake nearby?"

The driver thought for a moment. "We have three lakes in the area but all of them are far from the villa or on any road to the villa."

"I see," Naru said as he leaned back in his seat.

They soon spotted a tall steel gate up ahead. It opened and let the car drive further in front of the pair of large wooden doors that served as the main entrance of the villa.

Naru got out of the car and saw a doll-like lady in kimono walk out of the doors. Her short hair barely moved out of place as she gracefully walked forward to meet him.

"Welcome," she said as her pale cheeks slowly blushed. Her eyes seemed attracted to his face.

Naru ignored it. "Thank you. I am Shibuya Kazuya. I spoke on the phone with you this morning with Fr. Brown."

"Yes, I remember," she replied. "This concern of yours must be of great importance for you to come here urgently. Please come in," she said, leading him inside the villa. They walked toward a receiving room where she made the common formalities of accepting guests.

"I'm sorry," she said as she sat across him. The tea was served with several kinds of biscuits. "You must think me weird to ask you this but…have I met you somewhere? Your face looks very familiar. In a conference abroad perhaps..?"

Naru stared at her. "No," he said. "This is the first time we've met. I heard that you were supposed to meet with a man named Gene?"

"Oh yes, Dr. Gene," Masako said. "He set up an appointment to meet me a month and half ago but before the appointment day came, he called me and told me that he may not be able to commit to our agreement. He also asked if we could set up another one. I really didn't mind since I was in vacation and I myself was also looking forward to meet him because of the subject of his study. So I told him we could. He promised to call me again to set one up but I haven't heard from him since. You're looking for him, Shibuya-san?"

"Yes. The last time that he called you, did he say anything about what he was going to do first or where he could have been at that moment?"

Masako thought for a moment. "No," she said recalling the phone conversation. "He just said he was supposed to finish something. But from what I can recall, there was background noise coming from his end – something similar to an engine. I figured he must have been on his way riding a bus or a car..?" Upon realizing what was going on, worry began to fill her face. "Has something happened?"

Naru kept his straight face. "Dr. Gene is missing," he said.

Masako gasped covering her lips with her sleeve-covered hands. Her shocked eyes slowly moistened. "How…How long has he been missing?"

"About a month and half. I was sent here to investigate his disappearance in behalf of his family," Naru answered.

Masako looked down to hide her saddened face. She looked up determinedly. "Let me do everything I can to assist you in your search. Dr. Gene is a good friend to me. I never saw him personally but we made intellectual conversations online when I had my free time. He was very kind unlike the scientists I've encountered before. He treated my being a medium as something that was normal and innate. Please tell me anything that you might need in your search."

"Thank you for your concern. I was told by your driver that there are three lakes in this area. Is that true, Hara-san?" Naru asked.

"Yes," she said. "And you may call me Masako, Shibuya-san."

"Was it also true that none of those lakes are near the road to this villa, Hara-san?"

"Yes," Masako answered while hiding her confusion on why the handsome young man declined her offer of informality. "If you need to check them I'm afraid it would be very late at night by the time you reach the nearest lake. I suggest that you stay here for the night. I will have a guest room prepared for you. My driver and I will accompany you to the lakes the whole day tomorrow."

"Thank you," Naru said.

And with that Naru spent the night in the villa.

* * *

><p>Mai sat sewing pockets on another set of bags again. It was almost midnight and there was still no sign of Naru.<p>

Perhaps he went to somewhere and that he was safe wherever he was. Perhaps he would return the next morning. Perhaps she shouldn't worry.

And yet she was anxious. She had pricked her fingers several times as she thought about where Naru could be.

Mai sighed. If by tomorrow noon he was nowhere in sight, she would look for him.

Naru rolled over the bed for the nth time that night.

He looked at his watch and sighed heavily as he glared at the wall across his bed.

It was a very comfortable bed – far better than the futon he slept on in Mai's apartment. The blanket warmed him from the cradling cold of the air conditioner. The pillows were soft enough to embrace his heavy head. It felt so much closer to his home.

Yet he couldn't sleep. It was already past twelve midnight and he was wide awake.

It must have been caused by the nights he spent teaching Mai English late at night while she sewed those pockets on the bags.

Could she still be sewing at that hour?

For the past month of staying with her he learned that Mai only had one futon, one pillow and one blanket – all of them used by her guest to sleep on. And Mai sewed until dawn. She would fall asleep around midnight and wake up six hours later to go to school.

But ever since he started teaching her every night, she forced her self to sleep earlier. Naru after all didn't sleep until she was asleep.

She slept on the other side of the curtain that gave him privacy in his sleep. But she never told her how. One time however, he peaked through the curtain and saw her curled up on the floor with a towel as her blanket and a folded jacket as a pillow.

She was an idiot.

Naru already tried to give her the futon, pillow and blanket but she declined it several times saying that she rarely slept on them anyway.

Naru stared at the darkness in the room.

He was used to not sleeping. He had been an "overworking idiot," as Gene described, ever since he realized that there was so many things he could learn and do in staying awake until dawn.

He liked to read and study. And that was what he did every night and day. He only slept for six hours like Mai until his parents and his personal assistant literally forced him to get eight hours of sleep. They kept his books and papers away from him until he learned how to sleep "properly" like average teenage males his age did.

Mai was different. He didn't think that Mai was enjoying what she was doing at all. He would see her forcing her eyes to stay open as she finished the batch of bags she was sewing. And he noticed how Mai tried to cheer her self up by reading and learning a different language.

Naru sighed.

Could she still be sewing at that hour? ...Possibly…

Could she be worried because he didn't come home?

Naru winced. He remembered Mai's face the first time he arrived home late at night after spending the whole day going to various places for his cause.

Her round brown eyes were tearfully filled with relief. It was as if the sight of him took away all her burdens in life. He could clearly see how much she wanted to hold him and scold him at the same time but perhaps she also saw something in his face that stopped her from doing it.

She didn't hover. She just smiled reassuringly and let him boss her for a cup of tea.

He didn't talk to her that night as she sewed the bags. He was afraid that his face would show too much to her. And she kept silent about it. She didn't even try to read anything. She just kept her mouth shut and finished her evening chore.

Naru wondered what he would see on her face the moment he came home to her. Would it be worse than what he saw that night?

Would he even return to her?

After all, neither the luggage nor its contents meant a thing to him. He kept his papers, passport and money with him at all times.

Naru winced again. For some reason, he could feel a part of him twitch uncomfortably at the thought of leaving her that way.

He rolled over once more and kept his eyes on the ceiling.

He was still wide awake.

"Blast it," he snapped. "I can't believe I'm doing this."

Naru got off the bed.

* * *

><p>Mai got out of her house early, looking around for any sign of Naru. And with the news warning people about the possibility of a very strong rain later that day, her anxiety level was on its way to reach its peak.<p>

"What's wrong Mai-chan?" she heard a small voice call from below her.

It was still morning and she was on her way to the market. He couldn't help but watch her every step and stares at various directions in the alley.

Mai looked down and smiled at the boy on a bike. "Shiro-kun! Good morning."

"Good morning," Shiro greeted back. "Did you lose something?"

Mai blushed. "Well…not exactly. Um…I have this friend who's been staying with me for a few days…"

"...Oh that grumpy guy who always wears black..?" Shiro asked recalling the sight of a tall actor-like man walking to and from Mai's door whenever he rode his bike past her house.

Mai smiled shyly. Of course Shiro would notice Naru. After all, the kid promised to watch over her apartment while she was away at work.

"Yes," Mai said. "That's him. His name is Kazuya Shibuya and he's just a busy man. Anyway, he didn't come home last night and I don't know where he went so I'm just checking if he's on his way home now."

"Oh," Shiro said. "I can look for him for you, Mai-chan. I'll be guarding your house anyway."

"Thank you so much, Shiro-kun," Mai said leaning down to the boy's plump face. "I would really appreciate it," she said before placing a kiss on his cheek.

Shiro blushed and smiled widely. "You can count on me, Mai-chan! Be careful on your way to work!"

"You too, Shiro-kun," Mai said as she stepped away. "Be careful in biking okay? I'll be sad if you hurt yourself."

"Don't worry! I won't hurt myself, Mai-chan. Everything will be okay."

And with that Mai walked to the market with a smile on her face.


	13. Chapter 13

Naru stared out the window of the car.

As promised, Masako and the driver accompanied him to the lakes. Masako sat beside him in the back seat seemingly attempting to make small talks with him.

He ignored it and instead kept his eyes on the woods that passed in a blur on his window.

He still couldn't believe that he actually felt comfortable sleeping on the floor last night…or midnight. After wrapping his body with a blanket and lying his body flat on the floor, he woke up under the morning light feeling like he didn't stay up until midnight.

Naru sighed.

It wasn't the time to think of such things. Instead it was the time to do what he was supposed to do – the point of his journey.

After an hour of enduring Masako's attempts to hit on him, they arrived at the lake.

It was vast and blue.

Naru's eyes were flooded with disappointment. The lake was far from the lake that he remembered.

Masako noticed it and took it as their cue to go to the next lake. She remembered where she first saw his face before and she felt sad that he had to go through such pain.

It was around noon when they reached the next lake.

It was surrounded by cottages and it was not what Naru was looking for.

By the time they reached the last lake, it was evening and though it was wider than the two other lakes, it wasn't what Naru was expecting to see.

None of the roads even had any trace of Gene.

"Let's go back to the villa then," Masako said.

"No," Naru emotionlessly said. "I'll be heading back home. I am grateful for everything that you've done for me. I'll give you news once I found him."

Masako eyed him worriedly. "Are you sure? It's already late and by the cloudiness of the sky, it would be raining hard by the time you reach the city."

"I appreciate your concern but I don't see any reason for me to stay here longer," Naru said. "Please understand."

Masako nodded. "Then at least let us give you a ride to the train station." She led him back to the car.

The ride to the station was silent and long.

The whole time they were checking the lakes, Naru barely ate anything.

Masako watched his dead eyes look out the window. She could feel how hard it was for him.

Upon arriving at the train station, Masako took out the paper bag of food she had been keeping for him and went out to follow him to the ticket booth. After he got a ticket, Masako handed it to him.

Naru was about to decline when she spoke.

"I know who you are," she said with eyes full of worry. "I know why you were looking for the lakes. He's supposed to be in the lakes in this region of the country, isn't he?"

Naru stared at her for a moment before accepting the bag.

"I won't tell anyone," Masako said. "But let me help you in your search. I meant it – what I said about him. I had the feeling that I met him before and I have, haven't I?"

Naru looked away. "Thank you."

Masako nodded. "You have my number. Call me if you need anything. And I'll also send you word in the progress of our search."

Naru nodded and began to walk to the train.

Masako watched the train start its engine and start its trip to the city.

* * *

><p>It was already raining.<p>

Mai was still outside walking every possible alley and street that Naru could be walking on. There was no sign of him when she went home that noon. Shiro also said he didn't see him walking near the alleys that led to their small neighbourhood.

She was very anxious now. She trudged the cold water filling the street with her worn out sandals barely covering her feet that had been walking on various pavements and roads.

Her shoulders were shivering. Even her jaws were shaking.

It was raining by the time she got out of the market and she forgot to take her umbrella with her after she went out of her house that noon, so she ran under the rain to get her umbrella before she set out to search for Naru.

She also forgot to change her clothes in haste.

She had asked several strangers about Naru – none of them recalling him walk their way. She was slowly losing hope.

Had he gotten into another accident?

Did someone try to kill him?

Was he kidnapped?

It was raining hard and Naru didn't have an umbrella with him. She was sure he didn't have one and there was only one umbrella in the house.

She was now debating with her self about going to the police to get help…or checking the hospitals in case he survived and someone brought him there…or the morgue..?

Mai shook her head.

"Everything will be okay," she whispered – her breath turning into whiffs of fog.

She walked toward the alley to her house. It was the only way to her home so if Naru was on his way home, she would be able to meet him.

Naru walked nonchalantly on the street under the cold pouring rain. He ignored the stares people gave his drenched self.

He didn't know what to do next. It was a dead end. The strings he had been following had all been cut clean.

What was he going to do next?

He could think of nothing. He couldn't think of anything. He even almost got out at the wrong train station because of his state.

Now he was just letting his limbs do all the work – walk anywhere it wanted to go to amidst the cold rain.

He suddenly felt something tug at the end of his wet sleeve. He turned and saw a boy holding a big umbrella over his head.

He remembered seeing the boy before. He always seemed to ride his bike near Mai's apartment.

Naru subtly took a glance at his surrounding.

He was near a grocery store that was on the way to the alley that led to Mai's house. He looked back at the boy.

"Are you Kazuya Shibuya?" the boy asked.

"Who wants to know?"

The boy glared at him. "Tendoh Shiro," he said. "You're really a bad person, aren't you?"

Naru glared at the boy. Who was he to snap at him like that?

"Honestly, I don't know why Mai-chan is so worried about you," the boy continued. "You don't look or act like someone people should worry about."

Naru froze. Mai was worried about him?

The boy seemed to read his mind. "She's been looking for you since yesterday," he said twisting the facts a bit to see his reaction. And he wasn't disappointed.

Naru's expression softened.

"You didn't even leave a note to her, did you?" Shiro asked. "You should be ashamed of your self. She's been working hard all week and you add to her worries! Go home to her tonight, okay? I can't walk you there because my mom is just inside the grocery store."

A small smile subtly crept out from Naru's shut lips.

"Don't just smile at me," the boy said. "Turn around and go home. And don't make her worry again or I'll make you sorry for doing so!"

Naru turned around smirking. He realized that his feet had been leading him to the path that led to Mai's home. He should soon reach the alley that led to her house.

Mai sighed shakily as she stood on the side of the alley with her umbrella. The rain grew stronger and the water that covered the alley's pavement was flowing like a shallow river.

Her feet, standing against the current of the water flowing from the slightly inclined alley way, were sunk up to the ankle.

She looked around for the nth time waiting for anything that resembled Naru to pass by her.

"Mai-chan!" cried a familiar voice from beside her.

She turned and saw a young man with black hair covered in a drenched cap. His clothes were quickly being soaked with rain as well.

"Takumi-kun!" Mai greeted. "What are you doing here without an umbrella? Come here!" she said, pulling his arm to get him under the umbrella with her.

"Thanks Mai-chan," Takumi said as he shyly smiled at her. "I just got out from a poker game at Yusuke's house."

Mai glared at him. "You gambled again..? How many times do I have to tell you not to gamble? You'll be emptying your pockets and you'll end up getting into more problems! I thought you were already saving your earnings."

"I am," Takumi defended. "That's why I played in Yusuke's house –so I could double my savings."

"Idiot," Mai snapped. "Your chance of winning there is very slim. You know they're cheaters out there!"

Takumi sighed. "But I didn't bet any money there. I just played a game – a friendly one between friends. Hey! About that work I got you for England Mai-chan… I already fixed some of your papers. We're just communicating with the employer abroad about the delay on your flight."

Mai's face softened at the new topic of the conversation. She wanted to fulfil her parents' dream but…somehow she felt sad about leaving for it.

"Okay," Mai said.

"Oh and Mai," Takumi whispered. "Your landlady was there in Yusuke's house. She was muttering something about…rents and…" He looked away.

Mai leaned closer to him and looked at his face. It was already dark and not even the street light was enough for her to see what expression was on his face. "Yes Takumi-kun..?"

Takumi looked at her again. "You know I hate that old hag," he said. "And you know my place is open for you."

Mai blushed and shyly smiled at him. "Oh she said something about that, huh?"

"That witch is insane," Takumi said. "She admits that you pay your rent on time but she said that she'd earn more from that extra-small apartment of yours if she leased it to someone else."

Mai looked away and sighed. Her landlady never really appealed to her as well. She was grumpier and colder than Naru. And she charged a lot for the space she was renting. She only didn't want to live under other people's pity and charity so she did all the jobs she could do so far to pay for the expensive rent.

"I know," Mai said looking away. "But I want to make the best of the times I can stay here on my own." She then turned to Takumi. "It's just going to be less than a year," she said. "After I graduate, I'll move to that training centre to prepare for my work in England – just as I promised."

Takumi sighed. "Fine," he said. "You won't back out on that, okay? I've already had a contract made. All we have to do is sign it – you and me. I've also made reservations for you on that training centre so don't change your mind anymore."

Mai smiled. "I won't back out," she said.

"I'll keep my promise," Naru heard Mai say. He stood beside a car that was just near Mai. He was about to approach Mai when the guy came along and began talking to her.

He glared at the guy as Mai scolded him. Who was he to be scolded by Mai? Who was he to act so intimate with her?

Mai was worried – right...! For all he knew, she stood there to wait for that other guy and talk to him.

He tried to get all the things that they talked about but due to the rain, he only understood something about gambling, going to England, an offer to live with the other guy, training centre, and keeping a promise.

"Why are you out here anyway," the "other" guy asked.

"I'm waiting for someone," Mai said.

Naru suddenly felt relieved. He found his limbs walking toward her.

Takumi felt someone approach them. He immediately sent death glares at the silhouette that came nearer to Mai.

"Naru!" Mai gasped taking in the sight of Naru soaked with rain water from head to toe as he sent Takumi his most fatal glare. She quickly walked toward him and brushed his drenched hair away from his face with her fingers. "What the hell are you doing! Don't tell me you've been walking on the street the whole time it's been raining like this! Come on, let's get you dried up before you get pneumonia," she said dragging Naru by the arm to the alley.

She forgot about Takumi who was still standing in the rain – glaring at Naru.

It took her almost two minutes to remember him.

"Takumi-kun," she suddenly gasped upon stopping her quick run with Naru.

Naru glared at her. Takumi-**kun**?

He didn't like the guy. Something felt terribly off about him. And yet Mai was talking to him intimately and calling him with a –**kun**…

Mai immediately turned around to check if he was still on the spot she left him in but found no one there.

He was gone.

Mai groaned and sighed. She went back to dragging Naru home.


	14. Chapter 14

Naru suddenly felt a warm towel hit his face. He caught the sliding towel with his arms.

"Take a shower," Mai scolded. "The water outside is dirty. And get some dry clothes before you go. You have to change as soon as possible or you'll get sick." She then made her way to the kitchen and began to boil water for tea.

"Didn't you notice the clouds earlier? Even if you didn't get to watch the news, you should have known it was going to rain," she snapped as she began to chop some vegetables and meat while waiting for the water to boil.

Naru was pulling out some dry clothes from his luggage.

"You should have thought about taking an umbrella with you…or if you don't have one, at least ride a cab home so you won't get drenched like this," Mai continued. She then remembered how she first met Naru and froze – no cabs.

"Or if you don't like to ride a cab, at least wait for the rain to stop. There are a lot of stores in the streets. You can even stay under the tree! If you really want to walk under the rain, wear a rain coat!"

She went on and on about how stupid he was to stay out in the rain…but never said anything about him leaving her a note that would tell her where he went to, or about him giving her a call to tell her if he had any plans of coming home.

Naru went into the bathroom and took off his wet clothes.

Why didn't she tell him not to make her worry like that?

Why didn't she tell him to leave a note to her next time?

Why didn't she ask where he went to?

He pondered on these as he stood beneath the shower. It was a good thing Mai had a heater in the shower. He felt better with the warm water touching his cold skin.

By the time he was out of the bathroom with his dry and clean sleeping wear on, the steamy dinner with servings of tea were already on the table. For supper, they were having a traditional seafood soup. There weren't much ingredients in the soup but it smelled delicious enough for him.

"Sit down and eat," Mai ordered as she turned the small TV on to the evening news program.

Naru was about to sit down when she saw Mai still wearing the drenched clothes she wore earlier.

"You haven't changed your clothes?" he snapped.

Mai turned to him, sticking out her tongue. "I'm stronger than you think I am," she said. "I little water won't hurt me. Go ahead and eat, I'll just take a shower."

Naru sat down and took his bowl. He was scooping the soup when Mai went into the bathroom.

He sighed. It didn't feel right for him to eat alone, for some reason.

Naru fixed his eyes on the blurry TV screen and slowly sipped his soup. It was only when Mai began to eat with him that he ate in his usual pace.

That night, Mai didn't stay up to sew bags. Naru figured that she must have at last finished sewing pockets on all of them.

* * *

><p>Naru woke up early but feeling refreshed. He felt the thin futon on his back, the hard pillow on his head, and the cheap blanket over his body.<p>

He took a deep breath and gave out a sigh of relief. He felt unbelievably comfortable on the floor.

He began to hear the irritating high pitch ringing of the alarm clock.

He groaned. It was Monday and Mai had school.

Naru didn't stand up, waiting for Mai to turn it off as usual.

One…two…three…four rings and still ringing…

Naru grunted and sat up. What was wrong with Mai? Couldn't she hear the annoying noise? It was so loud!

He crept toward the curtain that sealed his sleeping corner from the rest of the room, moved it and saw Mai curled on the floor and sleeping.

The room was still a bit dark due to the rain showers outside.

Naru looked at the time and raised his brows. It was already six-thirty and Mai still wasn't awake.

He crept closer to her and began nudging her shoulder to wake her up. "Mai, wake up! Mai! You're going to be late for school. It's already six-thirty in the morning. Wake up!"

She stayed curled up and sleeping – her chest heaving.

"Mai," he shouted as he nudged her more forcefully. "Come on, wake up! Go take a shower. NOW!" yelling close to her ears

Mai's eyes flew open. "Shower," she gasped.

"Yes," Naru said. "You'll be late for school. Stand up and go take a shower."

Mai slowly pushed her self off of the floor. Her body seemed too heavy for her to carry but Naru was busy making his way to the kitchen for him to notice her difficulty.

Naru was busy preparing some instant noodles for Mai when she dragged her self to the bathroom.

Fifteen minutes later, Mai went out wearing her uniform – eyes groggy and body still heavy.

Naru placed the noodles on the table.

"Eat," Naru said eyeing her as she shakily put her shoes on.

Mai smiled and shook her head. "I'm not hungry. I'll see you later," she said almost stumbling on her way to the door.

Naru noticed something off. He began to look anxiously at her.

Mai was pale – paler than she already was.

"Mai, are you…okay?" he asked.

Mai smiled at him and walked to the door with her schoolbag on her shoulder. "Of course I am! Thanks for waking me up by the way," and with that she closed the door shut behind her.

For some reason, Naru felt…uneasy. He looked at the breakfast he served and began eating it alone.

* * *

><p>Mai's morning was blurry. She barely understood anything from the lessons. She was busy trying to get her mind off of the soar throat she started to feel since she woke up that morning. By recess time, she was having a severe headache and her friends had volunteered to take her to the clinic. She declined believing that it was a simple headache and that she was okay.<p>

By noon, her friends were offering her their aid to take her to her apartment and rest. She declined, unsure of how she would explain having Naru in the house.

When the bell rang for lunch, she felt like fainting. But she forced her self to walk home. She had to make Naru's lunch and tea.

She dragged her heavy body across the street. After what seemed like forever, she spotted her apartment door and smiled.

* * *

><p>Naru walked out of a restaurant with a bag of food for lunch.<p>

He really felt uneasy about Mai that morning for some reason, and at that moment he somehow believed something bad will happen if he let Mai prepare the food for lunch.

Upon reaching the pavement in front of Mai's house, he saw the apartment door partly open.

Mai must have arrived. After all, it was past noon already.

He casually walked closer and pushed the door open to let himself in. He turned to talk to Mai and froze at what he saw.

The bag of food he held fell on the floor.

Mai was lying unconscious on the floor – pale as paper. Blood was streaming from the side of her head that was against the kitchen rug. There was a smudge of blood on the counter.

And a small pool of blood was forming a scarlet halo around her head.

Naru immediately dropped to the floor and crept beside her. "Mai! Mai, wake up! Mai!" He nudged her shook her shoulder. "Mai! Mai, please! Wake up!"

…No response…

He checked her pulse – it was still beating but it was faint. He laid his hand on her forehead to check her temperature.

She was very warm…most likely due to a very high fever. He found himself taking her bloody head over his shoulder and his arms lifting her up from the floor in haste.

She wasn't moving but her lungs were heaving heavily.

He rushed out the door and saw Shiro on his bike with shock painted on his face.

"Mai-chan," he called.

"Lock the door," Naru ordered. "I'm taking her to the hospital."

Shiro nodded and got off his bike. He ran to the door and locked it while Naru ran out the alley to take a cab.

"_Blast it_," he cursed. There was no vehicle in sight. Where were they when you need them?

He began to run quickly toward the hospital. He had already run past two blocks when a cab stopped to give him a ride.


	15. Chapter 15

Naru sat in the waiting area. It was a good thing that he was wearing black. The colour hid the hideous stains from Mai's bleeding head.

He looked down at his blood stained hands. He was sure he had smudges of blood on his face as well – probably on his left cheek and jaw.

He sighed. It was already two in the afternoon and he hasn't left his seat since the nurses took Mai in the emergency room.

He remembered how they began to pump oxygen into her mouth and nose with the plastic oxygen mask while she was sprawled unconscious and bloody on the moving gurney. A nurse was putting pressure on the cut on her head while another was checking her pulse and temperature.

She was evidently pale at that moment and her chest seemed so weak, she didn't look like she was breathing.

Then a group of nurses pulled him away from the gurney as it entered the doors of the emergency room. He was led to the waiting room and given instructions on where the men's comfort room was so he could wash himself.

He also filled up the forms for the hospital admission. It was a good thing that the blood had dried up when he wrote on the papers.

Naru looked at his watch again when a nurse handed him a pack of wet tissue. He looked up at her and noticed a bright blush creep up her cheeks.

He took the tissue and began wiping his hands with it.

"You were the one who brought Mai-can in, right?" the nurse said.

Naru looked up at her, raising a brow in question.

The nurse smiled and shyly looked away. "She's a frequent visitor here. I don't know why but she always gets into trouble."

Naru looked down and continued to wipe his hands. Why wasn't he amazed about the remark? She was an idiot. She was working her self to death all the time.

And he made her wait in the rain yesterday…well, he didn't tell her to wait but he had to admit that he had something to do with it too…

"So you're a friend of hers, huh?" the nurse asked, walking closer to him.

"I live with her," he answered, irritated at the advances that the nurse was making.

The nurse froze. Before she could recover, a woman in a doctor's uniform walked in.

"Shibuya-san," she said with a hint of surprise.

Naru recalled the voice and looked up at her. "Matsuzaki-san."

Ayako smiled. "I didn't expect you, of all people, to bring Mai-chan here. I read your name in the papers but I didn't think it would really be you. You're a friend of hers, huh?"

"I live with her."

Ayako's eyes widened. "What..!"

"Were you the one who checked on her?"

"Yes," Ayako said still trying to recover from her shock. "How long have you two been living together?"

"About a month and two weeks. How is she?"

Ayako heavily sighed. "She's sleeping right now. Kids these days…"

"Can I see her?"

"Yes," Ayako replied, turning away. "Follow me."

Naru stood up and followed her. They walked into the white hallway of the hospital, passing nurses, patients, and visitors walking to and fro.

"How much do you know about Mai?" Ayako asked.

"…Enough to fill up the basics in her hospital admission form," Naru answered.

Ayako smirked. "I thought so." She sighed again. They continued to walk silently for a few moments before she spoke again. "I'll leave the story of how you two met between you and her, although I would really appreciate an explanation for your…living arrangement. But before I let you see her, there are things, I'm not sure if you already know, that I will tell you since you're living with her in one roof."

"I have to admit I'm happy to hear that she's living with someone though I'm not too happy to hear that she's living with a man I barely know," Ayako continued. "Briefly, Shibuya-san, I'll be telling you this in the hope that you could take care of her."

Naru looked at her and noticed her face soften. For a minute there he felt like he was talking with Mai's mother.

"I've known Mai-chan since she was in middle school," Ayako said. "I was beginning to establish my career as a doctor in this hospital after I transferred here from Osaka. Her mother was a frequent patient here. She would usually be confined in the hospital every month and Mai would be balancing her studies with staying with her."

Naru looked away and kept his eyes on the hallway.

"Her mother had a terminal case of anaemia," Ayako said. "Ever since her husband died, she had been forcing her self too hard to provide for her and Mai.

From what I heard, Mai's father died in an accident while on his way to work in some town away from where they lived. He was supposed to arrive home one night but ended up missing for a few days. They then found out that he was one of the people who got killed in the collision of a bus and a speeding car.

After that, Mai and her mother moved here to start a new life. Her mother took on several jobs and barely got enough rest. Not paying much attention to her health, her anaemia eventually lead to various heart and lung issues. She was later hospitalized here for less than a year. She died one day while Mai was at school. I was the one who called the principal and asked for the school to let Mai take the day off so she could see her mother. A teacher let her stay over, for a year or so. After that, Mai decided to live on her own.

She began to take on several jobs like her mother and ended up visiting the hospital either because of some accident she had while working, or because of fatigue."

Ayako let her words sink in before she spoke again. She wanted to take Mai under her wing but the girl thought that she would only be a burden to the doctor.

She watched Naru's emotionless face soften. She smiled knowing that Naru understood it all.

"Mai is anaemic," Ayako said, and she saw a hint of shock, fear and anxiety in Naru's eyes. "Her anaemia isn't as dangerous as that of her mothers but if she continues to push her self this hard, it won't be long for the disease to cause fatal health issues.

I love Mai like a family and I really want to adopt her. Right now, though, I can't take her in due to some complications but…you're living with her. Shibuya-san, this might be too big of a favour to ask but I feel that it's the only way I can keep her safe so far," Ayako continued.

Naru nodded.

"She's in the intensive care unit, right now," Ayako said. "She lost a lot of blood from the cut on her head and she's currently having a blood transfusion as we speak. We already stitched her up. She also has a concussion, most probably from the fall she had – you did say she hit her head on her kitchen counter, right?"

Naru nodded.

Ayako sighed. "It was a good thing that she fell on a rug. It saved her skull from getting a hairline fracture," she said. "To complicate things, she has pneumonia and her body is too weak to recover from it because of her anaemia issues. Did she by any chance soak her self yesterday in the rain?"

Naru felt like he wanted to shrink and disappear. "She had an umbrella," he found his pride reason out.

"By the strength of the rain yesterday and her state right now, the umbrella obviously didn't do its job, did it?" Ayako snapped.

They stopped in front of a room. Naru didn't even notice that they reached the ICU ward.

Ayako pushed the door open and revealed only one patient in the room occupying one of the six hospital beds. "It was a good thing the room before this one was filled up when we were finished with the operation. For now, she gets to have this room for her self without paying extra," she said, leading Naru inside.

Naru felt his knees weaken at the sight of her. She had so many tubes and apparatus connected to her motionless body. Beside the dextrose bag was a bag of blood that slowly transfused its contents into her body. The heart monitor was beeping irritatingly slow.

"We've suppressed the fever but she's having a lot of difficulty breathing," Ayako said. "We're still running tests to make sure that she doesn't have other respiratory complications."

Naru felt a painful sting surge from his chest throughout his body. She was so pale and lifeless. He didn't know which image of hers that day was worse – the one where her body lay bloody on the kitchen floor, or this one with the tube taped and surely stretched deep inside her throat.

Ayako saw the hurt in Naru's eyes and sadly smiled. "I know she looks in a lot of pain right now but she's heavily sedated so she won't feel the tube and the needles. She's going to be like this for a week or until we know that she'll be able to breathe normally on her own."

Naru nodded.

Ayako tapped his shoulder. "Mai is a strong girl," she said. "She'll make it through this one. It was really a good thing that you got her here before she lost more blood."

Naru nodded, still keeping his eyes on Mai's pallid face.

"Here," Ayako said pulling a chair beside Mai's bed. "You can stay here as much as you want, though I suggest you change your clothes first because its beginning to smell like blood. There will be plenty of beds for you to sleep on if you want to spend the night here. Don't worry about the hospital bills. I'll take care of that." She then left the room.

Naru sat down the chair and gazed at her face more closely. It looked so different and disconcerting to see her so emotionless and pale. She was so different from the Mai he knew.

His left hand slowly brushed a lock of hair away from her face and gently caressed her face.

It was so soft but intensely warm.

His right hand held hers.

"Idiot," he whispered. "Don't scare me like this again…please…"

He then laid his head next to hers, his forehead touching the side of her forehead. He closed his eyes and listened to the heart monitor amplifying her heart beat.


	16. Chapter 16

Mai slowly opened her eyes. She winced at the faint light and yawned as she slowly sat up.

She heard someone chuckle close by.

Mai quickly opened her eyes to see who it was. She blushed seeing a smiling Naru looking at her.

Naru...**smiling**..? She must be dreaming!

"Naru..?" she mumbled. "What…What happened?"

Naru chuckled again. "You went dizzy and hit your head on the kitchen counter before falling on the floor," he said still smiling cheerfully at her. "Don't you remember? That was really silly of you to force your self like that."

Mai looked away. "What do you mean? I just felt sleepy, that's all."

Naru shook his head. "You knew from last night that you weren't feeling well, and yet you didn't take the day off."

"I had school," Mai said. "I can't miss school."

"I don't think they will put it against you if you took the day off because you weren't feeling well," he replied.

Mai sighed. "I also had work to do…" She suddenly gasped. "Oh no my work..! I have to go to Haruka-san!" she said standing up.

It was then that she realized where she was – a dark place with no floor or ceiling where a bunch of white lights hovered in every direction. Naru stood up in front of her.

"Naru, you're floating!" Mai gasped.

Naru laughed. "You're floating too, Mai."

Mai looked at her feet and screamed seeing that her feet weren't standing on anything. "I'm dreaming aren't I?"

"Yes, Mai," Naru said. "…You are, and you will be until you're good enough to wake up."

"What do you mean by being 'good enough to wake up'?"

Naru smiled. "Your body has suffered a lot, thanks to your stubbornness. It needs to recover from the fatigue. Only then will you be able to wake up from here."

Mai sighed understanding Naru's explanation. "How long would that take?"

"If you were awake, it would be one week," Naru said. "But you're in a different realm so…I can't really tell."

Mai sighed. "Well…what will I do here while I wait for my body to recover?"

Naru shrugged. "What do you want to do?"

Mai leaned her head to the side, eyeing Naru carefully. "You'll…help me with whatever I want to do?"

Naru chuckled. "I'm here so I might as well do so, right?"

Mai smiled.

She couldn't believe how warm and cheerful Naru was. Maybe he wasn't such a bad person as he usually appeared to be.

"I really appreciate that," she said. "Can you teach me how to speak English again?"

"Sure," he replied.

Mai smiled and sat down. Naru sat down in front of her.

"So what do you want to know first?" Naru asked.

"How do you greet someone or meet someone…you know…the things you say when you're meeting someone for the first time?"

Naru chuckled. "_Hello_," he said.

"_Hello_," Mai repeated.

Naru nodded, still smiling warmly at her. "_My name is Ge…My name is Naru_."

Mai burst into laughter. "I thought you hated that name," she said. "Oh well…_My name is Mai_."

And they went on discussing how to speak the language.

* * *

><p>It was five in the afternoon when Naru got home. He saw Shiro on his bike and driving hurriedly towards him.<p>

"How is Mai-chan? How is Mai-chan?" the boy asked frantically.

"She's okay," Naru said. "She's sleeping. The doctor said she needs to sleep a lot so she would feel better."

Shiro nodded – sadness etched on his face. "How long will Mai-chan be in the hospital?"

"I'm not sure," Naru said. "She needs to sleep for a week. After that, the doctor said they will check on her again before she can get out of the hospital."

Shiro sighed. "Mai-chan's friends came earlier. They brought her things. I told them you took her to the hospital and they got really worried so they said they will be coming back tomorrow to ask about her since you weren't home yet."

Naru nodded. "Did you get what time they'll visit?"

"Yup. They said they'll be here at ten. They want to see her too."

"Okay," Naru said before walking to the house.

"Naru-chan," Shiro called.

Naru bit the grunt that was about to escape his lips at the sound of 'Naru-chan.' He turned to look at Shiro again. "Can I also visit Mai-chan?"

Naru smiled and nodded. "I'll take you to her tomorrow, but you have to tell your mother about it."

Shiro's face lit up. "Thank you! Okaa-san and Otou-san are worried about her too. They'll be happy to come with us tomorrow."

Naru turned to open the door with the spare key from his pocket when Shiro spoke again.

"Have you told Haruka-san about Mai?"

Naru looked at Shiro again, raising his brows. "Haruka-san..?"

"The owner of the café that Mai-chan works in every weekday afternoon and the whole day of Saturdays," Shiro explained.

Right…she had a lot of jobs and employers who would need to know what happened to her. If they weren't informed about it, she could end up being fired and he didn't want her to be upset about it…though he did want her to stop working so she could rest.

Naru sighed. "No, I haven't," Naru said. "Do you know all the people that she's working for? I'll tell all of them after I change and eat dinner."

"Sure," Shiro said. "I'll come back later to give you a list!" The boy then drove his bike away from the house.

Naru smirked. He still couldn't help but feel amazed at the boy's deep devotion for Mai. Shiro was no doubt in love with her.

Naru opened the door and went in to take a shower.

* * *

><p>Naru sighed sitting on a chair as one of Mai's employers babbled on about how much of a hassle it was to not receive the bags on time and how much of a help Naru was.<p>

It was the fourth time that night that Naru said, "I'll take her place" – each to different people.

The first one was to the kind old lady in the café. He wasn't supposed to say it but seeing how hard it would be for the old woman to work on her own he said the four words and figured it wouldn't be that hard to wash some dishes, fix some tables, serve some orders, and make some tea.

The second was to the greedy nagging middle aged woman who owned a fish stall in the market. She insisted on firing Mai unless someone would take her place, so he ended up saying those four words – cursing deep inside about why Mai had to work for such a horrible person.

The third was to the tall man who handled the people who carried goods in the market. Apparently, Mai worked for him as a dispatcher of goods to the men who carried the sacks of produce on their shoulders. She also worked as a quality controller who sorted fruits and vegetables to various classes. And at times, because they have a scarcity of men who carried the goods in market days, she also hauled and lugged the goods to their respective stalls. The boss said that he couldn't afford giving Mai that much leeway since his workers might think of it as unfair treatment, so Naru offered to take her place.

The fourth was for the stout owner of a bag factory. Apparently, the bags were unfinished bags sent to home-based workers to finish. They were supposed to be high quality bags, hand-sewn and expensive. Mai took the bags she finished to the factory every Friday afternoon. She was one of the fastest hand sewers he had and almost all of her bags pass the quality control for exportation.

This was where Naru was at that moment – in front of the man right after he said he would take her place since the man told Naru that he can't give her that much of a sick leave.

"Just finish those few bags that weren't finished yet and take them here tomorrow morning," the man said smiling widely. "I'll give you the next batch for the week."

Naru nodded. "Thank you." He then walked out of the office plotting the week's schedule in his head. He had to do well on the jobs if he wanted Mai to keep her job.

Instead of heading home, he went to the hospital and sat beside Mai's bed. He laid his head near hers and closed his eyes.


	17. Chapter 17

"What does England look like?" Mai asked. "Is it really beautiful?"

Naru shrugged his shoulders. "Your country is beautiful too."

Mai nodded. "I don't know why my parents wanted to go to England before. They were happy here but…I don't know… My dad worked somewhere in England a long time ago. My mom was on a tour when they met there. They settled here though. I guess they want me to see the place too."

Naru eyed her carefully. "But do you really want to leave?"

Mai smiled. "I really want to fulfil their dreams."

"But do you want to leave, Mai?"

Mai looked away. "I have to."

Naru's face saddened. "Want is different from need. In the first place, is it really 'needed'? Do you really think your parents would want you to go there if you didn't want to?"

Mai sighed. "Takumi-kun has fixed all the papers for me. I promised him I wouldn't back out anymore. Besides, I also need to get out of my apartment soon. My landlady will be kicking me out."

Naru sighed. "He really needs to realize it soon," he mumbled.

"What..?"

Naru smiled. "Nothing," he said. "Please think about this first. This is…a very big leap and it would upset me dearly if you end up hurting your self."

Mai blushed and smiled back at him. "I'll be fine, don't worry."

Naru smirked. "That was like what you said last night when I told you to go change your clothes. Yet here you are – dreaming because you're sick."

Mai stuck out her tongue.

Naru chuckled.

* * *

><p>Life was hell.<p>

Naru was carrying a sack of potatoes on his back as he walked the small silent alleys of the market.

It was five in the morning and Naru had finished sorting the vegetables and fruits that were going to be on display in the market stalls. The owner told him to start carrying some of the sacks of produce since the sorting was done.

Naru sighed heavily after putting the bag of potatoes down on the floor of a stall. The women arranging the vegetables on the stall stared in awe at him. He could clearly see the pink tint on their cheeks.

He ignored them and made his way back to the storage hall where the vegetables and fruits were dropped from the farm trucks.

He woke up at three in the morning that Sunday since the boss told him to be in the market before four. He arrived forty-five minutes before four and was given the task of cleaning the storage hall before the produce came. He started sorting fruits and vegetables at 4:15. It was his first time on the job so the boss didn't scold him for finishing the sorting at past five in the morning. Right after that, he began to help out in carrying the sacks of fruits and vegetables to different stalls in the market.

Naru took a sack of onions from the pile in the hall and carried it on his back. The boss told him to deliver it on the same stall where he dropped the potatoes in.

"I haven't seen him before," Naru heard someone murmur – most probably a woman. "Is he new?"

"Yes," replied another woman. "I heard he's filling in for Mai-chan because she's sick."

"Oh, do you think they're together? He looks too handsome for her."

Naru wanted to glare daggers at the two gossiping women in the stall but decided that it wouldn't be good for his reputation with Mai's employer.

"Yes, look at those abs," murmured another woman – this one sounding younger…a teenager. "He's so hot! And that face! I'll be so upset if he really is Mai's boyfriend."

"Me too," whispered someone in the same age bracket. "If I didn't know better, I'd say he was a model or an actor."

Naru kept his eyes on the way. He knew that taking off his shirt was a bad idea but he didn't have much of a choice, did he?

Before leaving the house that early morning, Naru intelligently decided that keeping his usual black polo shirt and black slacks attire would be a hindrance to his work in the market. So he left the house with the only pair of jean pants that he kept in his luggage for emergency purposes and a grey shirt.

It was a very cold and dark when he started sorting that he thought he was an idiot to not bring a jacket with him. But when they began to carry the sacks of produce to the stalls, he thought it was stupid of him to even wear a shirt.

The sacks were muddy and he didn't like staining his clothes so he took his shirt off but kept his jeans on.

Luckily, he didn't get much of a shock at carrying such heavy things on his back. He realized that all the excruciating workouts and training he had with Gene did pay off well. He not only maintained his toned physique – he also had enough strength to keep doing the job without fainting.

Naru sighed. Mai should make up for everything he was going through at that moment.

That week was a fatal one. He couldn't believe how she even survived it everyday.

He spent the mornings of the weekdays sewing pockets on bags. He spent its afternoons and the whole day of Saturday as a waiter, dishwasher, janitor, and cook in the café.

He went home tired and sleepy. His body felt so sore. He hadn't experienced working that…strenuously...in the course of his life. He knew how to work but not as a labourer. He was after all a known university professor.

He was an intellectual genius. Physical activity wasn't his thing. It was Gene's! He liked sprints, riding horses, and playing chess…but he despised other forms of sports. They were all tiring and arduous. He could never understand why people engaged themselves into those things.

So he wondered why on earth he was pushing his self that much.

He stopped wondering whenever he went to the hospital in the evening. Mai stayed unconscious the whole week. Ayako told them they would be keeping her longer because her body hadn't fully recovered. She also said that they needed to keep her sedated for a few more days.

That image of her unconscious every night with tubes big and small keeping her alive washed all his hesitations away. He needed to work. He just needed to work.

He slept there every night hoping to see her eyes open once more. It never happened and it wouldn't happen at least for the next few days.

Mai was alright. She just needed to rest – something most of her employers didn't seem to understand. The only employer he liked was the old woman in the café – Haruka-san. She was human enough to care about Mai. She even felt worried as if she was Mai's grand mother.

Naru laid the bag on the floor and went back to carry another sack.

He also liked the people who visited Mai in the hospital. They were very kind people, and they didn't judge him for living with Mai. They just said that they believed Mai had a good reason on why she kept him in her house.

For the past week, his dinner was either given to him by Shiro's mother or that lady Emi-san who acted like Mai's older sister. Both Shiro's and Emi's family offered to pitch in with the house, hospital and medication bills but Naru declined.

Some how he knew Mai wouldn't want to burden others with her state. And Naru still had a lot of money to spare anyway.

Naru sighed after delivering the sack of radishes. He hadn't had time to search for Gene in the past week. But he didn't feel that sorry about it.

Come to think of it, he had been feeling very odd emotions ever since he met Mai.

Naru was about to get another sack of radishes when he saw a familiar-looking man in the storage hall. He was laughing with the other men who carried farm produce.

The man seemed like he felt Naru's stare because he suddenly turned to Naru and stared back at him.

"Hey, I know you," the man said as he walked nearer to Naru – a smirk on his face. "You're Mai-chan's friend! So it's true, huh? You're filling in for her."

Naru took the sack and carried it. He turned and walked away.

"Hey wait!" the man said blocking his way. "We seemed to have gotten in the wrong foot last time. I'm Kaiba Takumi. You are Shibuya Kazuya, huh?"

Naru walked around him and went on to delivering the sack.

"Hey, Shibuya-san, come on! I'm not stealing your Mai-chan away."

That did it. Naru turned to Takumi and gave him the coldest glare he could give.

Takumi stepped back and shyly smiled. "Whoa there, okay? It's really not like that."

"Why were you talking to her?"

"I'm a friend of hers," Takumi said. "…But not **that** kind of friend. I'm helping her get to England."

Naru narrowed his eyes at him. Takumi didn't look like he had the money to even feed himself. How was he going to help her get out of the country?

"I know a lot of people," Takumi said as if reading the question on Naru's forehead. "I've set up a job for her there."

Naru stared at him. He didn't trust the guy. "Why do you want to help her? And don't give me any crap about being her friend."

Takumi chuckled. "You're really smart, huh? I have a commission with every person I ship out of the country. It's not an easy job, you know. Not a lot of people here want to go somewhere."

Naru glared at him. "You're doing it illegally, aren't you?"

Takumi shrugged his shoulders. "It gets them out either way."

Naru narrowed his eyes at Takumi. "Get away from her."

"Come on, buddy. I'm not here to piss you off. I'm here to offer you a job that pays more than what you're earning in carrying those sacks on your back," Takumi whispered. "You're a good looking guy. Any woman would fall for anything you tell them. All you have to do is offer them a job and that's it! You'll be rich in no time."

Naru turned away and continued his walk toward a stall. "I'm not interested."

"I didn't say you have to give me an answer now. Think about it first. You'll make enough money to get Mai-chan back from England."

Naru smirked, still carrying his load toward a stall. He didn't have enough money to do that. He had enough money to get Mai back and forth from England numerous times.

* * *

><p>"You're doing great, Mai," Naru said as they stood in the middle of the Haruka-san's tea shop.<p>

Mai smiled.

Naru had taught her how to control the images in her dream. He also showed him how her abilities were used by people who wielded her gifts well.

Mai looked at Naru. "Can I try to focus on a person this time?"

"Go ahead," Naru said.

Mai closed her eyes and wondered what would happen if she concentrated on Naru. Would they end up in that dark place with white lights again?

She didn't see Naru smile sadly at her. He knew what was going to happen next.

Mai remembered Naru's face, his intense eyes, his name, his arrogant personality…

She slowly opened her eyes.

She found her self standing inside her house with Naru beside her. She was about to chuckle when she heard the door open and from it walked Naru in a pair of dirty jeans and a grey shirt.

His eyes were narrow in irritation and he immediately walked to his luggage – pulling out clean clothes, after throwing a bag into the refrigerator. He then took his towel from a hook on the wall and went into the bathroom.

Mai heard the shower turn on.

She froze. She didn't understand what was going on.

"How…how could that…" Mai turned around and saw Naru on his black shirt and slacks standing behind her. He had a sad smile on his face.

"I'm sorry," Naru said.

"You're…You're not Naru, are you?" she asked.

Naru shook his head. "I didn't mean to deceive you," he said. "I just didn't want you to be scared of me. I was planning to tell you the truth…I just didn't know how to…"

"If you're not Naru, who are you? Why do you look like him?"


	18. Chapter 18

_Hey! I did a major mess up on the last upload, haha ^ v ^ First, I wasn't able to thank all of the inspiring and very moving reviews that you gave me. Thank you, thank you, thank you * _v *_ Second, the last part of chapter 17 was a sneak peek. I forgot to label it, hehe. But here's the part where you'll find it. Again, I hope you all enjoy the next chapters. ^ v ^_

* * *

><p>"You're becoming more fluent in speaking the language, Mai," Naru said smiling at Mai as they sat across each other.<p>

The darkness had been changed into a garden filled with flowers and butterflies. It was the fifth time that Naru changed the scenery around them.

"You're a very good teacher," Mai replied.

"Ah but you're a very good student too," he said chuckling.

Mai sighed as she looked around the dangling purple flowers beside her.

"Do you want to go somewhere else?" Naru asked.

Mai smiled. "You're really good at this aren't you? How do you do it?"

Naru shrugged his shoulders. "This is your dream too," he said. "You can change things here just as much as I do. Go ahead, try it."

Mai took a deep breath and closed her eyes, imagining a room…but she then remembered her house. Who was fixing the house while she and Naru were here?

She opened her eyes and instead of seeing a plain room, she saw her apartment. She and Naru sat in the middle with the small table between them.

Mai gasped in shock.

Naru laughed. "You unconsciously concentrated your thoughts to your home, instead of to a plain room."

Mai stood up and examined the place. It was tidy – very tidy. But there were things in it that seemed different. The stacks of bags that she sewed, for example, were in a corner wrapped in a clear plastic bag. And they were of a different colour – maroon?

She examined the cupboard and the kitchen shelves and found that her stash of instant noodles was replaced with another brand, and so were her canned goods.

She walked toward the door and noticed that Naru's shoes weren't in the shelf. Her school shoes were there though.

Mai felt something really off.

Naru sighed and smiled. "I forgot to tell you, sorry," he said. "It seems that you have a special talent for these things."

Mai looked confused at Naru.

Naru chuckled. "What you are seeing now is what your house looks like at this very moment."

"What..?"

"It's called astral projection – sending your consciousness to places but leaving your physical body in an unconscious state," Naru explained. "People think of it as letting your spirit walk out of your body."

"I'm a spirit and I'm outside my body right now..? I'm dead!"

"No," Naru said standing up and walking closer to her. "No, Mai. You're not dead. This is normal…or not **that** normal I guess…but for your body it's normal. Like I said, you have this ability to do these things. A lot of people do these too but not this well." Naru sighed and looked away to think of the right words.

"When people sleep, they dream," Naru began. "That's because though most of the voluntary muscles shut down, the involuntary ones – most importantly the brain – doesn't. If it did, people would die. So because the brain is constantly at work, it conjures images that make us see dreams. Gifted people like you at times don't just conjure images – your consciousness drifts away from your body and wanders in your sleep. It only comes back to your body when you wake up."

"So…my brain is powerful?" Mai unsurely asked.

Naru chuckled. "The brain is a very powerful thing, Mai," he said. "And there are so many things that you would need to know first to understand what I'm saying. Right now, let's just stick to the part that's simple enough to understand, okay? You can temporarily release your spirit from your body when you're asleep, and right now – you're really in your house."

"You mean 'we,' Naru," Mai said.

Naru shrugged his shoulder. "This is your dream, Mai," he said. "I'm just a guide – an observer. I see what you see and more."

Mai smiled. "You're really something, aren't you Naru?"

Naru chuckled.

* * *

><p>Naru took a deep breath and began cleaning the fish that were handed to him.<p>

It was now nearly noon and the people were flooding the store to buy seafood. He was taking over Mai's place so he did what Mai regularly did in her work, which was hauling the tubs of fish, arranging them on the counter and cleaning them at the customers' request.

He studied how to clean fish three days ago. It was a good thing that he had practice. All he needed to do was to improve his speed on doing it.

He blew out a scale that flew to his lower lip.

No wonder Mai arrived smelling like fish every Sunday.

The owner of the stall was more arrogant than him. She was lucky that he was holding his temper because if he wasn't, he would have hurled her into the tub of fish to shut her nagging mouth.

She seemed happy that day though. It must be the flood of customers. He noticed the number of females that approached their stall. Most of them were young – ordering fish while staring at his half naked sweating body.

He recognized those smiles they gave him as they bid to get more fish than the others.

He glared at the fish he was cleaning.

They were flirting with him.

"You're quite a charm, aren't you?" the owner of the stall told Naru. "How about you consider working for me permanently? I'll give you double of Taniyama's pay."

Naru bit his lips from sneering. There was no way he was going to do the job again.

It was hell.

He was actually amazed that Mai did the job every Sunday for the last three years – that was what one of the co-workers in the stall said.

By the end of the day, the stall was cleared of the fish. There was barely any seafoods left that were given to the workers as an added take home.

"Here," the plump and nagging employer said as she handed Naru a bag of cuttle fish, squid and shrimp. "Think about my offer."

Naru swallowed his pride and did the gesture that the other workers did – bow and say 'thank you.'

He then went on his way home in haste to get rid of the stench on his body.

* * *

><p>"You're doing great, Mai," Naru said as they stood in the middle of the Haruka-san's tea shop.<p>

Mai smiled.

Naru had taught her how to control the images in her dream. He also showed him how her abilities were used by people who wielded her gifts well.

Mai looked at Naru. "Can I try to focus on a person this time?"

"Go ahead," Naru said.

Mai closed her eyes and wondered what would happen if she concentrated on Naru. Would they end up in that dark place with white lights again?

She didn't see Naru smile sadly at her. He knew what was going to happen next.

Mai remembered Naru's face, his intense eyes, his name, his arrogant personality…

She slowly opened her eyes.

She found her self standing inside her house with Naru beside her. She was about to chuckle when she heard the door open and from it walked Naru in a pair of dirty jeans and a grey shirt.

His eyes were narrow in irritation and he immediately walked to his luggage – pulling out clean clothes, after throwing a bag into the refrigerator. He then took his towel from a hook on the wall and went into the bathroom.

Mai heard the shower turn on.

She froze. She didn't understand what was going on.

"How…how could that…" Mai turned around and saw Naru on his black shirt and slacks standing behind her. He had a sad smile on his face.

"I'm sorry," Naru said.

"You're…You're not Naru, are you?" she asked.

Naru shook his head. "I didn't mean to deceive you," he said. "I just didn't want you to be scared of me. I was planning to tell you the truth…I just didn't know how to…"

"If you're not Naru, who are you? Why do you look like him?"


	19. Chapter 19

"My name is Eugene," he said. "Naru calls me Gene. I'm his twin brother."

Mai's jaw dropped in shock and awe.

Naru had a twin?

She was talking all along with Naru's twin..!

"But…why…how…"

Gene chuckled. "Let's give my brother some privacy while he's taking a bath, shall we?" he said.

Mai blushed and nodded as they came back to the dark place with white lights floating everywhere.

"I'll answer your questions but you must promise me that you won't panic or freak out," Gene said.

Mai nodded. She felt that what Gene would say was going to be terrifying but she needed to know what was going on.

Gene smiled. "Do you remember what I told you about what people do with talents like yours?"

Mai nodded. "You said it's used to look for important things…even missing people. It's also used to speak with spirits of the…" Mai froze.

Gene nodded.

"No…you…you can't…"

"Yes, Mai," he said. "I'm dead."

Mai wanted to faint. Not only was she talking with Naru's kin. She was talking with his **dead** kin.

"I know what you'll ask me," Gene said. "And to tell you the truth, I don't know. Its Noll…I mean Naru that I've been trying to contact for the last few months. But I guess because of your abilities, I ended up reaching you instead."

"So you've been trying to talk to Naru. Is Noll supposed to be Naru's nickname?"

Gene smiled and nodded. "But I'll leave those details for Naru to tell you. Now I have a feeling that I won't be able to contact him the way I always have since I'm dead. So unless I find out that new method I can use to contact him, I'm afraid I'll only be able to talk to you."

Mai nodded.

Gene was a kind person. If she would need to relay an important message to Naru for Gene, she wouldn't mind. He took great care of her while she was with him and she was more than grateful for his presence.

She suddenly remembered something.

"Naru is always wearing black," Mai said.

Gene's eyes saddened.

"You've been trying to talk to him for the past few months," Mai said.

Gene smiled sadly at her.

"He's been going to so many places with his maps…"

Gene sighed.

"Naru…Naru is looking for you here – in this country – isn't he?"

Gene nodded.

Mai couldn't move. "You died here. And you've been trying to tell Naru where your body is."

Gene looked away. "I thought it was a good idea back then. I really wanted to go home and get away from this place. I've always wondered how beautiful it was in the afterlife. I don't belong in the world of the living now. So I tried to contact him."

"But he took it upon himself to look for my body," Gene said as he turned to look at Mai. "He felt my death and…he's special like you though his abilities are different. He can do what **you** can do – go to places and see things – but only if he touches things that are related to what or who he is looking for."

"He touched the shirt I left in my room in England," he continued. "And he saw what I didn't want him to see…how I died."

Mai gasped and held her lips from showing her astonishment. It must have been horrible – very horrible – to see your brother die before your eyes and never be able to do something to save him.

"I myself don't want to remember it," Gene said. "It was from that vision that he set out to look for my body."

Mai looked down at her feet. No wonder Naru acted so cold and distant. He had a huge burden on his shoulders.

"When I saw how hard it was for him to do such a task, I regretted wishing that he take me home," Gene said. "I don't mind staying in this place. At least I can see him and my family. What I want to do now is tell him to stop looking for me and to tell him to start a new life."

Mai looked at Gene. "It would be hard for Naru to do that," she said. "I can see how much he loves you, Gene. And for Naru, I think he believes that he won't be able to move on without taking you back to your home."

Gene sighed. "I know. But I just don't want him to get hurt any longer. I have a feeling that seeing my body – confirming my death – would make him feel worse than he's already feeling."

"If you really want to tell him that you want him to stop, I can tell him for you," Mai said.

Gene shook his head and looked strongly at Mai. "No. Don't ever mention something about me to him."

"But I can be your bridge to him!"

Gene smiled. "You're very kind, Mai. But I would more appreciate it if you take good care of him for me. I know you would but, just continue doing it instead of mentioning something about me to him. Learning about me talking to you instead of him will sadden him…and perhaps change how he treats you. Give me some time to think about letting you tell him anything about me."

Mai sighed and nodded. She then thought about the matter again. "Gene, do you know exactly in what place your body is now?"

Gene thought about it. "…Not really…I know that my body is in a lake but I don't know the name of the lake or even the place where the lake is."

Mai nodded. "I grew up here and I'm a bit more familiar with the places. Maybe you can show me what Naru saw and I can identify the place for you."

Gene's eyes went wide in shock. "And let you feel what I felt when I died? No! I won't do it! It's more terrible than any nightmare, Mai. I won't give you such a memory."

Mai scowled at Gene. "No matter how much I help him the way you want me to, we both know that he won't move on completely unless he's found you."

Gene looked away. "I know. But…can't I just describe it to you?"

"Let me guess how you'll describe it – it's a lake, a lot of water in it with forests around it…maybe a road beside it..?"

"Yes! That's it!" Gene said.

Mai sighed. "Gene, I can name more than five lakes falling under that description."

Gene sighed in defeat. "And you think seeing the place itself would be better?"

"If I locate your body myself..."

"Don't!" Gene said. "I know what you can do, Mai. To tell you the truth, I have the same abilities as you when I was alive. That's why I know about it. And I'm telling you right now that because of that incident in the place, you most likely won't just end up seeing the lake but also seeing how I died."

"Let me just see it now, then," Mai said. "I can handle it. I'm strong Gene. Let me help you and Naru. Please!"

Gene looked away to think. He then raised his head up as if he suddenly saw something. "You need to go, Mai."

"What..?"

Gene looked at her and smiled. "I'll think about your offer. For now, go and wake up. It would upset Naru if you don't."

Mai's face turned red. "What do you mean?"

Gene chuckled. "Your body is better now. You can wake up. Don't worry. I doubt that this would be the last time you'll see me. I understand what you're telling me about what Naru needs to move on. The next time we meet, I'll show you what you want to see. But you have to promise me that if you recognize the place you won't tell him about it…at least not yet..."

Mai nodded. "Um…how do I wake up?"

Gene chuckled. "Silly me," he said. "Close your eyes, Mai. Let your body go with the flow of the lights."

Mai did what she was told and slowly began to hear a very irritating beeping sound.

She scrunched her nose at the noise and tried to reach out her hand to slam her alarm clock shut but she could barely move her arms.

"Mai," she heard a voice call. It was a bit muffled in her ears but she seemed to recognize the voice. She knew that voice.


	20. Chapter 20

"Mai," it called again in a gentler tone.

She slowly felt her eyelids flutter open. She winced at the blinding light and slowly opened her eyes again to clear the blurry image before her.

She saw a relieved face of a fair young man with black hair and blue eyes looking at her closely.

"Na-k!"

Mai began to choke.

Naru cursed beneath his breath. Mai was awake and the tube was still lodged in her throat. He had already called for nurses the minute he noticed Mai's eye brows move.

"Calm down, Mai," he said, gripping her hand. "Can you hear me?"

Mai seemed to move her head more which worsened the choking sound she was making.

"Mai calm down! If you can hear me, squeeze my hand now."

He felt a weak squeeze in his hand.

"Good. Just stay calm. That's just a breathing tube. I know it doesn't feel good but just be a little more patient. The nurses are coming to get it off."

He felt another squeeze in his hand as a reply. He squeezed her hand back and as if on cue, the nurses came in with Ayako trailing behind.

"Who's in charge of this room?" Ayako scolded the nurses. She was checking another patient when she received a message to go to Mai's room. To her dismay, when she asked the nurses about Mai's condition while on her way to the room, none of them answered.

Well, one did saying that they were just on their way.

Ayako was furious now. She didn't expect Mai to wake up so soon so they didn't take the breathing tube out just yet. She was expecting a nurse had already pulled it out since they must have received the notice on the patient a couple of minutes ago.

The nurses were busy taking the breathing tube off of Mai's throat.

Mai was making gagging sounds that were worse than before.

Naru was up and holding Mai's hand. He wanted to hit the nurses for not being careful in pulling the tube out.

Ayako put a hand on Naru's shoulder. "The best way to get it out is to pull it out quickly. Just make Mai calm down to let them do it properly."

Naru nodded and locked his fingers with hers – giving a reassuring squeeze.

The nurses then walked away with the breathing tube and apparatus. They also checked Mai's heart rate, blood pressure, and her breathing.

Mai was breathing heavily. That was one experience she didn't want to go back to.

"Naru," she struggled to speak only to say his name in a weak and hoarse voice.

"I'm here," Naru said leaning forward and holding her hand in his two hands. "It's okay."

Ayako examined the report of the nurses who examined Mai. "You can sit her up," Ayako told Naru. "She needs to stretch a little."

Naru gently lifted her head from the pillow. A nurse aided him in sitting her up. The nurse put a pillow against her back for support.

"What happened..?" Mai asked after Naru handed her a bottle of mineral water.

"You collapsed and hit your head on the kitchen counter," Naru said emotionlessly.

"Oh," Mai gasped. "Oh! No…what time is it?"

"The question is what day, young lady," Ayako said from behind Naru who was sitting on his chair again beside Mai's bed.

Mai saw her at once and blushed. "Ayako! I'm sorry I…"

Ayako waved a hand at her. "You were lucky your boyfriend here took you to the hospital before you lost too much blood from the cut on your head."

Mai's face flushed scarlet. The heart monitor started to beep rapidly. "He's not my boyfriend!"

Ayako rolled her eyes. "Look, I don't care if you're live-in partners or friends with benefits," she said. "At least you two seem to be using protection."

Mai's face was red as an apple and the nurse shut the frantic heart monitor off to get rid of the deafening noise.

"Although you seem to be doing it too often," Ayako continued. "That you got very exhausted and sick. Limit your nightly activity…or if it's a daily activity, just do it at night and make sure to leave enough hours for your bodies to recover in sleep."

The nurses were biting their lips.

Naru fixed his eyes on the tube running down from the bag of dextrose.

"And for goodness' sake," Ayako added. "If you need to do it under the rain, make sure you will not wear your wet clothes too long afterwards, and make sure you have the immune system against virus and bacteria in the rain. I don't want seeing either or both of you here to give me a case of a fatal pneumonia!"

Mai pouted and looked shyly away. "That's not what happened," she muttered.

"What did..? You waited under the rain for him to come home?" Ayako snapped.

Naru winced, hiding his face by turning to look at his hands.

Mai blushed again. "I'm sorry," she said.

"I know you are," Ayako said. "But I also know that you won't stop working your self to death. So now, you need to stay here for a few days just to make sure that you'll be good to work. And for goodness' sake, Naru…is it?" she said turning to Naru.

Naru glared at Mai.

Mai sheepishly looked away.

"Naru," Ayako called.

Naru looked up at her.

"Control your girl if you can't control your manly urges," Ayako said. "Stop her from working. You do have an idea about what an overworked girl looks like, don't you?"

Naru sighed, biting a nasty retort he wanted so bad to give. He nodded.

"I want a loud answer, young man," Ayako said.

Naru glared at her. "Yes ma'am."

"Good." Ayako then turned to go. "I'll see if we can release you earlier than Wednesday afternoon."

The nurses followed suit.

Mai sighed and covered her face in embarrassment. "I'm so sorry, Naru."

"Don't be," he muttered almost soundlessly, looking down at his hands. After all, he was the one who made her stay out in the rain and forced her to go to school despite her condition.

Mai looked up at him. Blood filled her cheeks as she noticed the softness in Naru's eyes.

"Just get well soon," Naru told her in his usual tone this time, as he looked up with his emotionless face.

Mai nodded – her cheeks still blushing furiously.

Silence overwhelmed the room.

Naru began to take a bag from the side table. It had a covered cup of soup. He also took out a spoon.

"Hold this," he said as he handed the spoon to Mai.

Mai took the spoon shakily. It took her less than a minute to drop the spoon. Mai looked up shyly at Naru.

Naru nodded. He took the spoon after taking the lid off of the cup.

Mai smelled the tasty fog from the soup. "Mushroom soup?" she asked.

"It will fill your stomach so it won't react badly with the acid in the oranges later," Naru said.

Mai gasped excitedly. "You have oranges?"

Naru hid a smirk. "…And apples, and grapes," he said. "Now open your mouth."

Mai shyly opened her mouth and let Naru feed her. "I can eat on my own."

"You could barely hold the spoon," Naru said glaring at her. "Or do you want to spill the soup on the hospital blanket?"

Mai shook her head.

"Then stop being childish and do as I say."

Mai nodded and let Naru feed her another spoonful of the soup.

Naru put the cup down on the table and took out a small silver thermos from the bag. "Tea?" he asked Mai.

Mai smiled. "Yes, thank you."

Naru unscrewed the top of the container and helped Mai drink from it.

"Naru…"

Naru looked at Mai.

"How long have I been sleeping?"

"Almost a week," Naru answered passively, taking the cup of soup again.

"What..!"

Naru offered another spoonful of soup while glaring at her to behave properly.

Mai nodded and let Naru feed her again. "What day is it today?"

"Sunday," Naru answered.

"Oh no," she said looking away with panic-stricken eyes.

Naru sighed. "I've spoken to your employers," he said.

Mai looked up at him with shock. "You what..!"

"I spoke to Haruka-san, Nobu-san, Kouji-san, and Iwari-san," Naru said. "I told them that you couldn't work because you're in the hospital. I also gave them a medical certificate."

Mai sat stunned at Naru. "Thank you," she breathed. "How did you know them?"

"Shiro-kun told me about them," Naru said as he offered another spoonful.

Mai swallowed the soup and smiled. "You know Shiro-kun, huh?"

Naru shrugged his shoulders as he stirred the soup.

Mai chuckled and shyly looked at him. "I hope they didn't scold you because of me."

Naru looked at her. Now that she mentioned it, most of them did scold him. "Haruka-san didn't scold me. She was worried about you. The fruits are from her."

Mai nodded. "She's a very kind woman," she said. And then she realized what Naru meant. "I'm sorry you had to go through those."

Naru made her drink tea, which she gratefully obeyed. "Why do you keep so many jobs? Working in Haruka-san seems enough."

Mai almost choked upon realizing how Naru noticed that fact.

Naru patted her back.

"Oh! No," she said. "They made you work in my place, didn't you? I'm so sorry, Naru! I'm really sorry…"

Naru rolled his eyes. "You sound like a talking parrot," he said. "Are those the only words you have in your vocabulary? I knew you were an idiot but I didn't expect you to be **this** idiot."

Mai glared at him. "I'm not an idiot!"

"Then answer my question."

Mai looked away. "I need money."

"How much money do you need?"

Mai glared at him. "...A lot."

Naru glared back at her. "If you're thinking about making your self rich by working your life off, you're really stupid. You'll end up dead before you reach your dream."

"You know nothing about my dream," Mai muttered.

"Really..?" Naru said. "Isn't becoming rich your dream?

"No!"

"What is it then?"

Mai froze and looked away. "I'm not working for my dream."

"Why are you working then? ...For fun? ...To sustain yourself? Don't make me laugh. Your salary in Haruka-san's tea shop is enough for you to live."

"I know that," Mai said.

"Then why get those other jobs?"

Mai couldn't answer. She couldn't seem to have the courage to open that part of her up to him.

"Is it because you want to go to England?"

Mai's eyes went wide. She stared stunned at Naru.

"I spoke with Kaiba-san," he said with a straight face.

"Takumi-kun! What did he tell you?"

"Do you know why he's helping you get out of the country? Do you even know how he's planning to get you out? He's part of an illegal recruitment agency, Mai!"

Mai looked away. "I know. I know he's helping me because he'll get a commission if I get out of the country. I know it's going to be an illegal way."

"Then why are you still dealing with him?"

Mai took a deep breath. "It's a fair transaction. I get out, he earns in return."

"And what if you end up as a drug carrier or a prostitute out there? Would that still be fair?"

Mai glared at Naru. "I'll be working as a maid."

"That's what he's telling you now," Naru said. "But who knows if that's really what you're going to do when you get there?"

Mai sighed and leaned her head back. "At least I got there," she said.

Naru stared shocked at Mai. "Are you really that insane?"

Mai looked at Naru. "I just want to go there," she said. "Working there just happened to be the way to get me there."

Naru narrowed his eyes at Mai. "Why do you want to go there?"

Mai smiled and looked away. "It's a long story."

Naru sighed and looked at the bag of fruits. "Look," he said. "There are other ways of going there. If you just want to go there, you can go there as a tourist."

Mai looked at Naru and smiled. "Thank you. But I'm not like you."

Naru looked at Mai. "There are so many ways to get there without dealing with Kaiba-san," he sharply said. "I'll…"

Mai covered Naru's lips with her fingers. "Not another word," she said. "You are my guest. These troubles of mine that you've gotten yourself involved in are enough."

Naru sighed and held Mai's hand. "Then promise me that you won't talk to him again," he said.

Mai stared shocked at Naru. "But…"

"If you don't want that then I'll do something to keep you from making deals with him."

Mai scowled. "Fine," he said. "I won't talk to him."

Naru nodded. "Now open your mouth."


	21. Chapter 21

The trip home with Mai was troublesome…for Naru, that is.

They rode a van that was owned by Emi's family. Naru sat beside Mai who was asked almost every minute about how she felt, what she planned on doing once she got home, about accepting their offer to leave her apartment and live with them again, about no longer working…

Naru, though looking as placid and impassive as ever, could feel the stare of Emi's parents and the other middle-aged people in the van. He would also feel Mai's uneasiness toward that fact. She would check Naru every now and then for any reaction on the various questions and stares that Emi's family were throwing.

"You didn't tell me that you had a male boarder in your house," Emi whispered to Mai. "And he's one hot catch too."

Mai's face tuned red. "It's not what you think," she whispered back.

"What am I thinking, Mai? I also heard he's from England."

Mai sighed. "He's here to look for a relative," she whispered. "He got into an accident. I helped him and took him home. He doesn't want to cause anymore trouble so he stayed with me." Of course she made the story up…partly since she still remembered Gene…

Emi snorted. "A tourist like him would stay in your apartment?"

Mai looked at Emi. "He was robbed." Would that shut them up? "I saw the robbers but they got away quickly. They beat him up to a pulp."

Emi looked shyly away. "You've reported it to the police?"

Mai nodded. Another lie!

Emi looked at Naru and sighed. "That must be why he's so aloof, huh? He's still traumatized."

Mai nodded, feeling triumphant and relieved that Emi took the bait.

They soon reached the alley street towards Emi's home which was near Mai's.

"At least eat dinner with us tonight," Emi said when Mai insisted that Naru and her will walk straight to the apartment upon getting off of the van in front of Emi's house. "We would be very upset if you decline."

Mai checked Naru's face for any reaction.

...None. He didn't seem to care whether she agreed or declined.

"Please, Mai-chan," Emi said.

Mai sighed and smiled. "Okay," she said. "Just tonight's dinner, okay…please?"

Emi chuckled. "Okay – just tonight's dinner. We'll see you later then, Mai-chan, Shibuya-san!"

Naru and Mai bowed and thanked them for fetching them from the hospital. They then walked home together.

* * *

><p>"Sorry about earlier," Mai said as she walked with her head bowed in shame. "…And later."<p>

"It can't be helped," Naru said.

Mai looked up at him. He was still emotionless. "If you need to defend your self later, just do it. They get too intrusive sometimes."

Naru looked at her for a moment and then turned to look back at the path.

They remained silent until they reached the house.

Mai excitedly pranced into the room upon opening the door. She slipped on the wooden floor of the kitchen.

"Mai!"

Mai closed her eyes waiting to feel the hard floor against her back. But she felt a warm body instead. Only her behind hit the floor.

She opened her eyes and saw Naru's arms around her – her head leaning back in the crook of his neck.

Naru was glaring at her.

Mai's cheeks flushed. It seemed to have become a habit of hers lately whenever she was with Naru.

"Will you never learn to care about your self?" he snapped.

Mai frowned. "It was an accident," she defended. "I'm sorry."

Naru shook his head and lifted her up. He led her to the corner that usually converted into a bedroom.

Mai gasped seeing two futons on the floor. "You bought that for you?"

"No," Naru said as he walked toward the new futon. He sat down beside it and then stared at Mai. "Aren't you going to get some rest?"

Mai slowly walked toward Naru and was about to walk around the new futon when she felt Naru pull her wrist. She looked at him and saw his head shake. She walked and sat near the new futon.

Naru patted the futon and then pulled a blanket from an open cabinet.

Mai sat on the new futon in confusion. It was very soft and fluffy unlike her futon. She then felt Naru's hands push her shoulders down, laying her flat on the futon with her head against a new comfortable pillow.

Mai's face was red all over.

Naru then covered her body with a new blanket – leaving only her head in view. "Matsuzaki-san said you still need to be in bed rest until tomorrow," Naru said. "You still have five hours to sleep before we go to Emi-san's house for dinner."

Mai nodded shyly. "You bought this for me?" she whispered as if she was afraid to hear the answer.

Naru looked away. "Matsuzaki-san said you need to sleep in a more comfortable bed. Your futon is already worn. I could barely feel the futon when I'm sleeping on it."

Mai scowled. "Why don't you use this futon instead then?"

Naru glared at Mai. "Just go to sleep, idiot."

Mai glared back. "Well I'm not yet sleepy, jerk!"

Naru sighed. "Don't tell me I have to tell you a story to make you fall asleep."

Mai stuck out her tongue.

Naru shook his head. "You're so childish," he said sitting beside Mai.

Mai turned her body to completely face Naru. "Naru, what do you think of this place?"

Naru looked at Mai. Her eyes were fixed at nowhere. He leaned his back on the nearby closet. "Small, cramped, cold, poor..."

Mai glared at Naru. "Not my house, jerk!"

Naru looked down at Mai again. He hid the smirk peeping from his shut lips. "It's okay."

"Is it more beautiful than England?"

Naru sighed. "This talk again," he muttered.

"I just want to know."

"I know," Naru said looking at the opposite wall. "It's beautiful. I can't say which one is more beautiful. It would be unfair. It's a given fact that I would prefer England because I live there."

Mai sighed. "You don't like it here then," she said.

Naru looked at her again. "I didn't say that."

Mai looked up at him. "What **did** you say then?"

Naru smirked. "You shouldn't make me choose which of the two is beautiful. I won't be able to give you an objective answer."

Mai smiled. "Can you give me a subjective one then?"

Naru looked at the opposite wall. "It's beautiful here too, but I will still prefer to stay in England. This is an interesting place. The culture and society is different – even the people. The sceneries are magnificent."

"But if you were asked to choose where you would prefer to go, you'd prefer your home, right?"

Naru looked down at Mai. She was staring at nowhere again. "Why are you planning to go to England if you don't want to go there?"

Mai froze. Blood filled her cheeks again. She looked up at Naru. "I never said anything like that."

"Your train of thought is on the idea though," Naru said. "And that blush on your face is enough proof to tell me that my deduction was right."

Mai looked away.

Silence filled the room.

Mai sighed. "When I was younger, my parents told me a lot of stories about how they met. They told me about the brick pavements that they walked on. They told me about the restaurants where they dined in. They told me about this huge clock where they looked at every night when they thought about each other. They told me about that…magic that gave birth to me. I never found those things here. I was hoping to see them in England."

Naru thought for a moment. "Your parents went to England before?"

Mai nodded. "My mother had some sort of work-related tour there once. My father worked there. They met there one night. They moved here after my father proposed to her. They told me about their plans to go back there someday with me so I would see the things they saw."

Naru looked down at his stretched legs. "Your parents are maudlin people."

Mai chuckled. "I guess they really are my parents. I actually keep a key from our house as a lucky charm."

Naru looked down at Mai and saw her pulling something out of her pocket. She showed him a key – a silver house door key.

Naru held the key.

Flashes of images hit his face.

There was an image of a couple using the key to open a door. They let a cheerful little girl inside with them.

There was an image of a woman grasping the key in her hand as she walked away from the house with the little girl. They were both in black.

There was an image of the woman on a hospital bed clutching the key and handing it to Matsuzaki-san. The woman asked Ayako to give it to her daughter.

There was an image of a middle-school girl with two brown pigtails holding the key in front of her chest. Tears streamed down her face as she faced the portrait of the woman from the hospital. Incenses were lit on either side of the portrait.

Naru handed the key back to Mai. He felt so heavy that he wanted to cry. They seemed too harsh to be experienced by anyone.

Mai kept the key inside her pocket again.

"Do you really think they would be happy if you went to England despite the fact that you don't want to go there?" Naru asked.

Mai sighed. "Should it really matter? Couldn't 'liking' something come later?"

Naru looked at the opposite wall. "You only like something when you decide to like it," he said. "When you admit that you like it."

"What if when your body decides that it likes it? Does that count as 'like' too?" Mai asked as she looked at Naru.

"No," Naru said. "That's lust."

Mai blushed and glared at Naru. "I wasn't thinking about…"

"…About what?" Naru asked smirking.

Mai looked away – her face redder than before.

"Mai."

Mai looked up at him.

"Sleep."

Mai froze and looked away. Somehow she did feel a bit sleepy.

"Just close your eyes."

Mai closed her eyes and curled up closer to Naru as she fell into unconsciousness.

Naru smiled and gently brushed her hair with his fingers. It had grown to be a habit of his ever since he slept on the chair beside her bed in the hospital.

At first he felt ashamed of it. But after that, he just couldn't seem to help his hand from doing it.

"Yes," Naru thought to himself. "Even if it's just your body that decides that it likes it, it can still be counted as 'like.'"


	22. Chapter 22

It was another weekday morning and this time, Naru had all the time in the day to walk around and search for anything that would lead him to Gene.

"I'll be back by lunch," Naru told Mai as he walked away from her school gate.

Ever since that incident, Naru walked with Mai to school and told her where he was going and what time he would be home. The school was near the main street that led to town so Naru used it as an excuse for listening to the part of him that wanted to walk Mai to school and make sure that she was healthy enough to attend her classes.

Mai accepted his reason ignoring the possibility that Naru was indeed concerned about her. So every morning, she walked with Naru to school and bid goodbye to him as he walked away from her.

Mai pranced to her friends who were waiting for her inside the school gates.

"You're so lucky, Mai-chan," Yumi said. "You have a boyfriend who takes you to school every morning!"

Mai chuckled and shook her head. "How many times do I have to tell you? He's not my boyfriend. He's a friend."

Her friends shook their heads. "Right," they sarcastically said.

Mai sighed and walked with them to school.

It had been a month since she recovered from her hospitalization. And right now, she was worried about getting extra jobs again.

She remembered the time when she went to work in the market.

"Oh, you're okay now, huh?" Nobu-san said eyeing her lazily. "So Shibuya-san won't work here anymore? That's sad. I was looking forward to seeing him. He may be a little slow but he's really good at sorting. And he carries a lot more than you can. Why don't you just tell him to work here instead of you? I'll give him double the pay that you're getting. So I'll expect him to be here next week. If he's not coming, don't come at all."

Mai was able to continue her work that morning. She didn't want to have Naru working because of her so she opted to accept the fact that it was her last day of work.

"What..! You're well already? That's disappointing," plump Kouji-san said as she arranged her fish on the counter. "I was looking forward to getting a lot of customers again. He's quite an eye catcher! I couldn't believe that those things I see in TV actually work – employing handsome men to get tons of customers… Even my patrons are looking forward to seeing him instead of you. He may not be that good in cleaning the fish but he's good at luring people to my store. I offered him a job here. Hey! Why don't you talk to him for me? Tell him to work here instead of you. I'll give him triple the pay that I'm giving you. With all the money I'm getting from the people he's luring in, I'll even be able to pay him quadruple of your pay. Tell him that, okay? If you don't, don't come back here anymore!"

Mai did her job that Sunday with a pasted smile on her face. She had been terminated from her job twice in one day.

"Nice to know you're better," Iwari-san said upon accepting the box of bags that I was able to finish. "Does Shibuya-san still stay with you? I was hoping maybe he could work for me too. He's a meticulous sewer. He broke your record in the quality control. Can you talk to him for me? We need people like him in this industry. I'll even pay him double if he takes on your job permanently."

Correction – she had been terminated from work three times in one day.

* * *

><p>"Oh dear," Haruka-san said when Mai told her the story. "That's not kind. I told you those people were bad. You didn't listen."<p>

Haruka-san was the only employer who didn't terminate her. She was fond of Naru but she liked Mai's tea better.

Mai sighed. "I'm sorry. I just needed those jobs badly," she said.

"Have you told him about what happened?"

Mai shook her head. She couldn't tell him. First of all, Naru took over her jobs so her employers wouldn't fire her. Who knows what Naru would feel once he learned that his helping hand still made her employers fire her from work? Second, Naru was already burdened by the reason he was there – looking for his brother. She couldn't tell him something that could upset him more.

"I don't think it would be good," Mai said. "I don't want him to worry about me more. He has a lot in his mind already."

Haruka-san sighed in defeat. "Yes," she said looking away. "He does look like a very sad person. It's like he's grieving."

Mai smiled. Nothing escaped Haruka-san's eyes. Actually, that was why she ended up telling her about what happened – Haruka-san noticed that she was bothered by something and she insisted to hear what it was.

"What are you planning to do now?" she asked looking back at her. They had finished packing up for the afternoon. After Mai's class, she headed straight to the tea shop to help Haruka-san in the afternoon shift since a lot of customers go there in those times. They leave before six in the evening, when Naru would come in to pick Mai up and head home.

Mai thought for a moment. "I've checked the newspapers," she said. "I'm planning to do a job hunt this weekend. Hopefully I get a job by this coming Sunday. Naru seems to be noticing my lack of other jobs. He's happy that I sleep on time now but I could feel his confused stares at me."

Haruka-san chuckled. "Maybe he's confused about his feelings for you."

Mai's cheeks blushed. "Haruka-san!"

Haruka-san giggled.

"Mai!"

Haruka-san and Mai went out of the kitchen and looked at the front door. Naru was there.

And like walking Mai to school, fetching her from work was out of the need to make sure that she would always be home in time for dinner. Both Mai and Naru believed that it was the only reason why they had been doing it ever since she recovered.

"Good evening, Haruka-san," he greeted.

"Good evening, son," she greeted sweetly back. "You're just in time!"

Haruka-san led Mai out of the door and waved good bye to them before she went to her home, which was just next to the shop.

* * *

><p>The walk home was silent as usual but Mai noticed that Naru was thinking deeply about something that seemed to concern her, since it was the fifth time that she saw Naru's mouth open to speak but close again before he made a sound.<p>

Mai was right.

Naru remembered the man he spoke with that morning – Kyouya-san – a worker in the market. He was on his way to the library when he met him in town.

"Shibuya-san!" Kyouya greeted. He was in his late twenties and he seemed to have come from the market.

"Kyouya-san," Naru greeted back.

"Wow, you look really different," Kyouya gasped as he took in Naru.

Oh right…It was the first time that Kyouya saw him wearing his usual attire – a black buttoned polo shirt, a pair of black pants, and a pair of leather shoes.

Naru ignored the comment and kept his eyes on Kyouya.

"I guess you really aren't meant for the job," Kyouya chuckled. "How's Mai-chan? Has she gotten another job?"

Naru raised his brows.

He had been noticing something off about Mai's activities. When he was left in the house one Sunday, he noticed a pile of newspapers hidden away in a corner. The classified ads sections were open and marked with circles using a red marker. The announcement boxes that were encircled were about part-time job openings for high school students. The newspapers' dates were recent.

He was relieved to see Mai sleeping early but he couldn't help but wonder why he no longer found any stacks of bags that needed sewing in any corner of the house.

One Sunday, he saw Mai walking into a store with a job opening notice on the front door. And when he tried to fetch her from the market, she wasn't there. The reason Mai gave him when they got home was that she took the day off for a class project that they had in school.

"…You didn't know?" Kyouya asked in confusion.

"I'm sorry. I don't think I do," Naru said.

"Boss asked her to talk to you a month ago," Kyouya explained. "He wants you to work for him instead of Mai-chan."

Naru froze.

"He said he would pay you double the pay that she was receiving and that if you won't work for him, Mai-chan shouldn't work for him at all."

Naru felt…hurt for some reason... He felt angry…betrayed…and worried.

"I heard that even Kouji-san told Mai to have you working in Mai's place that day," Kyouya added. "They said Kouji-san was willing to give you triple Mai's pay, and she told Mai that she doesn't want her to work anymore if you won't work for the stall."

Naru looked away – glaring daggers at the pavement.

Mai was also most likely terminated by Iwari-san, hence the loss of the evening sewing activities for the past month.

Kyouya saw his expression. "She didn't tell you anything, did she?" he shyly asked.

Naru stayed silent.

"Maybe Mai-chan didn't want you to work for them because she didn't want you to get too worked up," he said. "After all you…don't really look like you should work in the market. You look like someone who works in an office. You know how Mai-chan is. She cares about others more than she cares about her self."

Naru closed his eyes to control his emotions. He turned to Kyouya and smiled at him. "Thank you for informing me," he said. "I'm afraid I need to catch the train."

"Oh sure, you're welcome," Kyouya said. "And Shibuya-san, don't be too harsh on Mai-chan. I'm sure she was only thinking of what's good for you."

Naru nodded and walked away.

"Naru..?" Mai asked, looking at him as they walked home.

Naru turned to Mai. "How was your work in the market last Sunday?"

Mai blushed and looked away. "It's good," she said. "There were a lot of people as usual. We sold a lot of fish."

Naru sighed. "I met Kyouya-san this morning."

Mai froze.

Naru looked at her. "Why didn't tell me you've been terminated from your job last month?"

Mai sighed and kept her eyes on the ground. "I wasn't terminated. I…resigned."

"They told you to stop working if I didn't work for them instead," Naru sharply said. "That is not a resignation."

Mai winced.

"We had a deal. Why didn't you tell me that they didn't keep their end of the agreement?"

"I was able to work that Sunday," Mai defended.

"The deal was that they wouldn't terminate you," Naru said. "Not that they would let you work for a day and then force you out of the job."

Mai looked at Naru. "It's finished okay?" It was then that she noticed the pain in Naru's eyes. She also saw how tight his fists were clenched.

Mai sighed and reached out to his locked knuckles. She took his hands in hers and caressed it.

"I'm sorry," she said, keeping her eyes on his tight fists. "I didn't want you to work for them anymore. I didn't want you to go through those again because of me."

"I know."

"Then why are you still asking me?" Mai asked frowing at Naru.

Naru stared at Mai's pouting lips – a habit that she seemed to have when frowning. He sighed.

Mai felt Naru's knuckles loosen up.

"You're looking for a new job now," Naru gently said.

Mai nodded.

"You'll only have one job other than Haruka-san's," Naru said with an air of finality as he began to walk away.

Mai stared confused at him. "One job..? Naru I need…"

"One job," Naru said glaring coldly at her. "All in all, you will have two jobs – one from Haruka-san, and another from whoever accepts you for work."

Mai scowled but nodded because of Naru's scary glare.

And then…it hit her.

"You know I don't work for Iwari-san anymore..?" she gasped.

Naru turned away – rolling his eyes in the process. "I'm not as idiot as you are. Are you going to stay there?"

Mai huffed and continued to walk home with him again.


	23. Chapter 23

_Thank you all so much again for reading and reviewing this story. I really appreciate how you take some of your time to read these. I know that this story is getting a little too long (22 pages as of today?) and I apologize for that. I really didn't plan for it to be this long but, it just got out of hand for some reason _^ v ^

_So anyway, I've read comments and questions about the story and I really want to answer them but I want to see the effect of what showing you the answers later on is. So to save you from more babbles coming from me, here are the next chapters. I hope you enjoy reading them_

I do not own ghost hunt _(finally...after 22 chapters _- . -_ )_

* * *

><p>"Oh!" Gene gasped in excitement. "You're really very good at this, aren't you?"<p>

Gene had been teaching her English for the past month. She had been seeing him in her dreams – one reason why she didn't mind sleeping early anymore.

Mai smiled. "_So Gene_," she said. "_When are you going to show me what happened to you?_"

Gene scowled – pouting slightly at Mai. "That again..?"

Mai sighed. "Well I wouldn't ask you about it if you just show it to me."

"Tomorrow night," Gene said.

"That's what you've been saying for the past month! You'll only bring that up when it's almost time for me to wake up."

Gene sighed. "Can't you just understand that I'm doing this for you? Look at my brother. Do you want to end up looking like him?"

Mai chuckled. "You already said that Naru's had that stick up his behind ever since you were kids!"

Gene looked away. "Yes well, it got worse when he saw it."

Mai shook her head. "I don't think I have a stick in my bottom that would grow longer if you show me what happened."

Gene looked at her and burst into laughter. "Ew! Let's stop talking about sticks in the behind, shall we?"

Mai laughed with him. "Seriously Gene," she said. "You have to let me see it."

Gene sighed. "Look," he said. "I've already realized that I won't be able to get away from you without showing you what happened. Simply put, I'm willing to show you everything. Just…not now, please..? I'm really not ready to relive it, let alone let **you** live it for a while."

Mai sighed in defeat. "You promise to tell me when you're ready..?"

Gene smiled. "I promise."

Mai smiled. "Next lesson, please?"

Gene smirked. "I'll teach you how to annoy Naru using two words."

* * *

><p>Sunday.<p>

Mai and Naru walked to town together.

"So you won't be home for lunch then," she said after hearing Naru's plan for the day.

Naru nodded. "But I'll be home in the evening. Do you have your phone with you?"

Mai nodded.

It had been two weeks since Naru learned about her job hunting activity every Sunday. And this was the first time that Naru would be away for one whole day so he gave Mai a mobile phone, saying it was his old phone that he replaced with a newer one since it didn't suit his needs anymore.

The truth was that Naru bought another mobile phone that looked almost like the one he had. Mai didn't have a phone at home or a simple mobile phone so he couldn't tell her any changes in the time he would be home if there happened to be any.

So he bought her a phone. His own phone still looked new since he barely used it so she didn't notice much of the difference. And to convince her that it was old, he taught her how to use it without looking at the manual.

"Make sure you don't lose it. You remember how to use it?"

Mai glared at Naru. "I'm not an idiot, Naru."

Naru smirked and looked away. "I'll be going now," he said turning toward to the train station.

Mai waved goodbye to him. She went on to look for a restaurant that was in need of a waitress.

After a few minutes of walking, she saw the restaurant and pushed the door open.

"…Too low," a voice echoed in the restaurant.

Mai saw a man with long blond hair talking to a plump man wearing an apron.

"I will not give you that rate!" the plump man shouted. It was then that he noticed Mai by the door. "Who are you?"

Mai stiffened and forced a smile on her face. "I'm here for the job opening you have..?"

"Oh the waitress," the plump man said eyeing Mai from head to toe. He smiled widely. "Wait here, missy," he said as he quickly walked to the kitchen.

The long-haired man turned to look at Mai and smirked. "You're looking for a job, huh?" he said. "I suggest you skip this one. He's a horrible boss. No woman stays working as a waitress here because he's a hell of a pervert. And by the look he gave you earlier," he trailed off as he shook his head. "He'll be pouncing on you in no time.'

Mai gulped loudly.

The man smiled. "Luckily, you came just in time to meet me," he said walking toward her. "The name is Takigawa Housho," he said extending a hand.

Mai reached out her hand and shook it. "Mai Taniyama."

"Ah, Taniyama-chan! So how about we get out of here before he asks you to wear the perverted waitress uniform that he's getting from the closet?" he said pulling Mai out of the door.

"But...wait!" she said pulling her hand away after they got out of the door.

"You don't believe me, do you?" Takigawa said. "Okay. Let's wait here and watch him from this window," he said pulling her toward a window of the restaurant.

The plump man went out displaying a waitress uniform with a skirt that barely covered the thighs, and a top that exposed the top of the breast.

"Missy, wear this will you?" he said expecting to see Mai on the door. When he didn't see her there, he looked around. "Missy..?"

Mai gasped and turned to Takigawa. "Do you know a decent work I can apply for?"

Takigawa chuckled. "Do I..? I so do! Come on," he said leading her away from the restaurant.

* * *

><p>Takigawa led Mai into a bar a few blocks away from the restaurant. It was near the main street and just a few walks from the train station.<p>

In the morning, it seemed like any other restaurant serving the usual meals. There were only a few people there – two waitresses, a bartender that also served as a cashier, and a janitor who was mopping the floors and wiping the tables clean.

The restaurant was spacious. The ambiance was a bit dark. In the very end of the floor was a stage with spotlights positioned below and above it.

"Hey," Takigawa greeted a waitress who just forwarded an order to the bartender, who would pass it to the cook in the kitchen.

"Hey, handsome," the waitress greeted licking her lower lip.

"Ooh," Takigawa said smirking. "Is Yasuhara there?"

The waitress rolled her eyes. "Sure. Who's that?" she said glaring at Mai who was behind Takigawa.

Mai smiled and was supposed to answer when Takigawa cut her.

"She's my sister," he said. "She's applying for a job as a waitress."

"Oh," the waitress said as her face lightened up. "Right this way," she said leading them to the office behind the counter.

Takigawa knocked on the door while winking at Mai.

Mai blushed and heard a muffled voice from behind.

Takigawa opened it to reveal a small office room with a young man in glasses sitting behind a table. In front of the man were piles of papers. The waitress left them there since she heard a customer call her.

"Hey, Yasu," Takigawa greeted.

"Hello, love," the young man in glasses greeted back.

Takigawa stiffened and turned to Mai. "For the record," he whispered. "I am not gay. He's just…like that."

"And hello, miss..?" Yasuhara asked smiling warmly at Mai.

"Taniyama," Mai said smiling back. "Taniyama Mai."

"Ah," Yasuhara said. "Good morning. I'm Osamu Yasuhara. You can call me Yasuhara. No need for any formalities here, okay? What can I do for you?"

"She's applying for a job," Takigawa said.

Yasuhara nodded. "You want to be a waitress? Are you still studying?"

"Yes. I'm in my last year in high school."

Yasuhara smiled. "I thought so. I'm afraid the only schedule we can offer for the part-time position will be seven to ten in the evening. Is that okay just in case?"

"Oh yes," Mai said excitedly.

Yasuhara chuckled. "Do you have your resume with you?"

Mai handed him a folder that had her resume.

"Mm," Yasuhara said reading the resume. "You may need to have someone fetch you home at the end of your shift. People here are crazy at night. Has Takigawa told you anything about us?"

Takigawa laughed. "What's there to tell?"

Yasuhara shook his head. "A lot," he said. "Please sit down, Taniyama-san."

"Thank you," she said sitting on one of the chairs in front of the table.

Takigawa locked the door and stood on a corner near the window.

"This is a bar," Yasuhara said. "We work twenty-four hours a day here. Of course, people work in shifts. I'm in charge of managing the bar while the owner is away on a vacation. As you may have seen outside, though we do have customers in the morning, it's not enough to fill all the seats in the bar. That's because we're more known for entertainment in the evening. Takigawa here is one of the lead guitarists in the bands that play here every night."

Mai gasped and smiled excitedly at Takigawa.

Takigawa winked at Mai.

"Since this is a part of the town," Yasuhara continued. Mai looked back at him. "There are plenty of petty crimes that happen around here, especially outside. This isn't to scare you or anything. This is just to give you a warning about what you should worry about once you start working here."

Mai nodded.

"Sometimes, we also get some violent alcohol drinkers as customers," Yasuhara said.

"Bastard drunkards," Takigawa interjected.

"What they do is make some trouble when their wants aren't satisfied. For those things, we have bouncers," Yasuhara said. "Sometimes drunken customers would threaten you to let them abuse you but I'm telling you now – no customer is allowed to molest anyone here, most importantly our waitresses. They can't even harass Takigawa."

Takigawa glared at Yasuhara. "What exactly does that mean?"

"Don't we need to pay respect to our elders?" Yasuhara said smiling warmly at Takigawa.

Mai chuckled as Takigawa grunted, "I am not that old!"

"So are you going to be willing to work with us?" Yasuhara said. "Though you're a part-timer, you'll receive hazard pay, health insurance, and other compensations. I'll show you your contract in case that would help you decide."

Yasuhara pulled out a thin stack of papers from the table drawer and handed it to Mai.

Mai read it.

"That contract is similar to the contracts we give for regular employees," Yasuhara said. "Basically for part-timers, the schedule and basic pay are different. The other things like uniform, house rules, and duties are the same. You can also do overtimes if you like."

Mai nodded. She then came to the clause about the pay and gasped. "Is this really the basic pay for a part-timer?"

Yasuhara examined the document and smiled. "Yes, that's correct. Why? Is it too small?"

"Oh! No," Mai said. "It's actually big for me. This is bigger than the pay I get in the three jobs that I had last month."

"Three jobs..?" Takigawa asked.

"Yes about that," Yasuhara said. "I'm just curious. So you worked in the market under two employers in Sundays, and sewed bags when you got home back then?"

"Yes," Mai said.

"You also work in a tea shop in weekday afternoons and whole day of Saturdays," Yasuhara said.

Mai nodded.

"Whoa," Takigawa exclaimed. "Isn't that too much?"

"I only have one work now," Mai said.

"The tea shop," Yasuhara said reading the resume. "I know this. So you're the waitress who works for Haruka-san."

Mai nodded.

Yasuhara smiled. "I go there to drink tea sometimes. I love the green tea you have there. Is it true that you prepare the tea in the shop too?"

"Yes," Mai said. "I can make you tea here too if you want."

"That would be wonderful! If you can't work as a waitress, I'll hire you as my assistant," Yasuhara said.

"Take the waitress job," Takigawa whispered. "It's better! I swear…"

Mai chuckled.

Yasuhara shook his head. "How about you try working as a waitress first? You can try doing it tonight. I'll pay you the same rate indicated in the contract whether you accept the job or not."

"Thank you so much," Mai said. "You're very kind."

"Oh thank you," Yasuhara said. "I've always been a very kind man. Isn't that right, Bou-san?"

Takigawa rolled his eyes.

"Bou-san..?" Mai asked.

"Oh he didn't tell you?" Yasuhara said.

Takigawa slapped his forehead. "Doesn't that fact mean anything to you, Yasuhara?"

Yasuhara chuckled and kept his eyes at Mai. "Takigawa was a Buddhist monk. He escaped the mountain to become a rock star."

Mai gasped in awe. "Wow!"

"He still performs some exorcisms as a side line," Yasuhara said.

"Cut it out, Yasuhara," Takigawa mumbled. "But if you know someone who needs help with spirits, just tell them you know me," Takigawa told Mai. "I'm really a good one."

Mai chuckled and smiled. "I'll remember that."


	24. Chapter 24

Naru got off the train and made his way into the main street.

It was almost nine in the evening. He already called Mai that he might not make it in time for dinner so he walked into the nearest restaurant. He ended up walking toward a bar.

He didn't like watching live bands but it was the most wholesome bar that served decent meals at that moment so he went in. He sat in an empty table and looked at the menu while the noisy band played in the background.

"You have an order..?" asked a waitress who suddenly stood beside Naru – flaunting her thighs by the table.

Naru ignored her flirting and ordered a meal and a non-alcoholic drink. He looked at the band playing on the stage.

They were pretty bearable. The lead guitarist was good.

Naru looked around. There were a lot of people enjoying the music while they ate and drank. The bar seemed organized. One side was filled with middle-aged drunkards and the other side were filled with people who were interested in listening to the music.

He then heard something behind him.

"You're pretty," said a muffled voice – clearly someone drunk already. "Can I take you home? I'm very good…"

Naru glared at his table. This was what he hated about bars.

"Let go of me!"

Naru froze. It sounded familiar to him.

He turned around and saw Mai in a waitress uniform – her arm held by a plump middle aged man who barely buttoned his shirt on properly. He was pulling Mai toward his unzipped pants.

Naru cursed.

* * *

><p>Mai saw the bouncer at the door walking toward her.<p>

She was on her way to the counter to take another batch of plates to be delivered when the man suddenly pulled her arm. She looked at the nearest bouncer and immediately saw him walking to save her.

"She said let go," she heard a very familiar voice say. She froze and looked beside her. She saw Naru holding the man's arm that was pulling her closer.

She saw Naru's eyes glaring daggers at the man.

"Naru," Mai called.

"Who the hell are you?" the smelly man asked glaring back at Naru. "Her boyfriend..? Ha! You don't stand a chance against me, kid."

"Really..?" Naru said smirking evilly at the man.

The man's smug face began to twist into an expression of pain. He began to wince.

The man's hand let go of Mai's arm. She noticed Naru's arm still holding the man's arm. She could see Naru's hands slowly burying itself on the arm's plump flesh. There was also a faint blue light around Naru's hand.

Mai gasped. She recalled Gene telling her about a special ability that Naru had which was very different from what she had. Gene said that Naru should avoid using that ability since it weakens Naru's body.

Mai immediately embraced Naru. "Stop it, Naru," she said. "He already let go of me. Let go of him, please. I'm okay."

Naru felt Mai's hold on him and slowly let go of the drunken man's arm.

The bouncer stood behind them in shock.

On the drunken man's arm was a deep red impression of a hand. The drunken man ran out of the bar in fear.

Mai sighed in relief.

The bouncer looked at Mai and nodded toward Naru.

"I know him," Mai said. "He won't hurt anyone. He just defended me."

The bouncer nodded and walked away.

"Why are you here?" Mai asked Naru, still holding him in her arms.

"Shouldn't **I** be the one to ask you that question?" Naru snapped at her. He looked down and noticed her waitress uniform. "You work here? You didn't tell me about it this morning!"

"Calm down," Mai said pulling Naru into a corner.

"Mai-chan!" a waitress called.

Naru and Mai looked at her.

It was the waitress who took Naru's order. She just served his drink.

"What are you doing with my customer?" the waitress asked Mai – her eyes boring holes at Mai's face.

Mai blushed and smiled. "We know each other. I'll just talk to him for a minute." And with that, Mai dragged him into a corner.

The waitress scowled and walked toward Yasuhara's office.

"Okay," Mai said pulling away and looking at Naru. "I can explain everything. I was supposed to apply in this restaurant this morning like I told you, when I met that lead guitarist on stage and told me that the owner of the restaurant was a pervert. He was right because the owner wanted me to wear this…skimpy waitress dress that would make me look like a slut. Anyway, the guitarist took me here and spoke to the standing manager that I would apply as a part-time waitress. The manager was kind and he didn't want me to end up regretting my decision so he let me try the job out tonight. He's going to pay me for this whether I accept this offer or turn it down."

"You're going to work as a waitress in a bar? ...At night? Are you crazy? Did you see that bastard earlier? What if I wasn't here?"

"The bouncer was on his way when you came."

Naru glared at her.

Mai winced and looked away. "Well…why are **you** here? I thought you wouldn't be home in time for dinner."

"I wasn't," Naru said. "I was thinking you'd be asleep by now so I walked to look for a place to have dinner in."

Mai peeped at Naru, her lips pouting. "You chose a bar..?"

"Have you seen any decent restaurants outside?" Naru snapped.

Mai nodded, raising her hands in front of her in surrender.

"Excuse me," said Yasuhara as he approached the two.

Naru and Mai looked at him.

Mai blushed furiously. The waitress that called her was behind Yasuhara and smirking.

"Yasuhara, I'm really sorry," Mai said. "I had an accident earlier and he helped me and he wanted to know why I was here so I dragged him in this corner to talk and…"

Yasuhara burst into laughter. "Calm down, Mai-chan," he said. "I'm not going to eat you. I understand. If I were your boyfriend, I'd be worried too."

Mai and Naru stared at Yasuhara. The waitress on the other hand stood stunned.

"What..?" Mai asked.

Yasuhara chuckled and looked at Naru. "I'm very sorry for causing this misunderstanding," he said. "Please, let me explain everything in my office."

Yasuhara led Naru to his office. Mai followed them.

"Please, take a seat," Yasuhara said offering one of the chairs in front of his table.

Naru sat down.

Yasuhara smiled at Mai who stood at the door. "You too, Mai-chan," he said. "You'll only tire your self if you stand there."

Mai shyly smiled back and sat in front of Naru.

Naru scowled as Mai's skirt shrank – revealing the parts of her thighs that were hidden by her usual mini-skirts.

"My name is Osamu Yasuhara," Yasuhara began. "I'm the standing manager of this bar. I was the one who asked Mai-chan to work for us tonight so she would have an idea of the job that we were offering. It's much like an on the job training. I'm really sorry you had to see that incident earlier. We have bouncers here who are always ready to help in such situations. I assure you that we care a lot about the safety of our employees, Mr…?"

"Shibuya," Naru said. "Shibuya Kazuya."

Yasuhara looked baffled at Naru. "I'm sorry but…your voice sounds familiar. Have we met before?"

Mai looked surprised at the two.

Naru kept his emotionless face. "I don't believe so."

"I see," Yasuhara said. "I'm sorry I asked that. I rarely forget the face or voice of people that I've spoken to. Anyway, I can show you the contract we have for Mai-chan in case she accepts the job," he said immediately handing Naru the contract.

Mai stared shocked at the scene in front of her. Weren't job contracts supposed to be confidential?

Naru looked more like the boss as he reviewed the contract. Yasuhara smiled like a very faithful assistant.

Mai looked away to erase her thoughts when the door opened and Takigawa went in.

"What happened?" he asked Yasuhara. "I saw that bastard trying to get Mai and then I saw a kid in black take Mai in a corner and…" He froze seeing the 'kid in black' sitting and reviewing some documents while Yasuhara sat smiling at him.

"Oh," Takigawa said.

"His name is Shibuya Kazuya," Yasuhara said. "He's Mai-chan's boyfriend."

"NO!" Mai said standing up from her seat.

Takigawa narrowed his eyes at Naru. He slowly walked around him, looking at Naru from every angle possible.

Naru glared at him.

"Shibuya-san, this is Housho Takigawa," Yasuhara said. "He brought Mai-chan here."

Takigawa and Naru just stared sharply at each other.

"Some boyfriend," Takigawa muttered.

"You're one to talk," Naru replied.

Mai covered her face in shame.

Takigawa glared at Naru. "I could have saved her too if I wasn't doing my solo."

"You expect me to believe that..?" Naru said.

"You really sound familiar," Yasuhara said.

Takigawa, Naru and Mai looked at Yasuhara.

"Are you sure I haven't spoken to you on the phone before?" Yasuhara said. "I also work as a part-time researcher, and some times an agent for exorcists."

Mai's eyes went wide.

What..?

Naru's eyes showed a hint of shock for a moment before his face erased all traces of possible emotion.

"I am sure I haven't spoken to you before," Naru said.

Yasuhara nodded.

"Back to the topic," Takigawa said. "You actually believe this kid is Mai's boyfriend?"

Mai sighed in relief. At least Takigawa believed her.

"Where do you live?" Takigawa asked Naru.

Mai slapped her forehead.

…WRONG QUESTION..!

"In Mai's house," Naru answered.

Takigawa froze and looked away.

Yasuhara smiled at him. "You see, Bou-san? I'm right!"

Mai sat down in defeat.

Takigawa grunted. "Kids these days," he muttered. He then turned to Mai. "Don't be afraid to tell me if he hurt you, ne Mai-chan? I'll protect you."

Mai smiled stiffly at him.

Naru sighed and went back to reading the contract. After a few moments he handed the contract to Yasuhara. "It's Mai's decision to make."

"I know," Yasuhara said. "But I don't want you to have conflicts because of this job so I was thinking of offering you a job here as well."

"What..?" Takigawa and Mai exclaimed.

Yasuhara kept smiling at Naru. "We're in need of assistant bartenders. You won't need to mix any drink. That's going to be the bartender's job. As his assistant, you'll just attend to orders of simple drinks. So basically you'll pour, for example, ales into a mug."

"We're in need of that..?" Takigawa asked.

Yasuhara pulled out another batch of documents from his drawer and handed it to Naru. "That's the contract for the position," he said. "If you accept it, you'll be working in the same shift as Mai would – seven to ten in the evening every weekdays."

Naru read the contract and looked at Mai. "Are you taking the job?"

Mai looked away shyly. "I..."

Naru read the answer on her face. "Do you want it?"

Mai looked up at Naru. Takigawa and Yasuhara were also watching her.

Mai sighed and nodded.

Naru handed the contract back to Yasuhara. "I'll take your offer."

Mai and Takigawa stared stunned at the two.

Yasuhara smiled brightly at Naru. "Thank you so much! Let me just get a pen so you and Mai-chan can sign your contracts."


	25. Chapter 25

Mai sighed as she lay on her futon. Naru was on his futon as well – on the other side of the curtain that was on her left.

"Go to sleep, Mai," Naru coldly said from beyond the curtain.

Mai pouted. "You're not sleeping too."

"I don't have school tomorrow."

Mai scowled. "Jerk!"

"Just to remind you, you were the one who accepted their offer to work there until ten in the evening."

Mai curled toward the curtain. "I know," she mumbled. "Why did you take the job?"

Naru didn't answer. He looked at the curtain and saw a faint image of Mai curled toward him. He smiled.

"Go to sleep," Naru gently said.

Mai looked at the curtain and sighed. She closed her eyes and slowly fell asleep.

When Mai's even breathing filled the room, Naru curled toward the curtain – gazing at the faint image of Mai's face through the curtain. He closed his eyes and fell asleep.

* * *

><p>"<em>What did you do, Gene?<em>" Naru asked his reflection. _"What did you do?"_

His reflection remained sadly looking at him. _"Aren't you happy?"_

Naru stood stunned. _"Happy..? How would I be ha…"_

Gene smiled at him before he could finish. He raised his hand and pointed to something behind Naru.

Naru turned around and froze. He saw Mai walking inside her house alone.

He slowly walked closer until he was inside the house with her. He couldn't see his luggage in the house. In fact, there was barely anything in the house – just boxes and a big travel bag.

Mai seemed to be packing her things into a bag. She opened a cabinet and saw two futons – the old one she owned and the new one that Naru bought.

She smiled and pulled out the old one. She buried her face into the futon. Her shoulders began to shake.

"Mai," Naru called but the voice that echoed wasn't his. He turned around and saw Takumi standing by the door. "Let's go."

Naru stiffened and turned to Mai. "No! You promised you won't talk to him!"

But Mai didn't seem to hear him. She wiped her tears and hid the futons in a box. "I'll be right there," she said.

He watched Mai stand up taking the travel bag with her. She walked out of the house.

Other people went in and took the boxes with them.

The house was left dark and empty.

_"Are you happy?_" Gene asked standing behind him.

Naru felt like he was being crushed. "Mai…"


	26. Chapter 26

_I have a lot to thank you all for again and I don't want you to get annoyed at me typing so many 'thank you' statements so here goes..._

_THANK YOU FOR READING AND REVIEWING THE CHAPTERS AND FOR NOT MINDING HOW LONG IT'S GETTING! _^ v ^ _YOU ROCK! _

_So much for shouting...Now I apologize I didn't update as soon as I usually did (it's been quite a week for me). But here are the next chapters. Unfortunately I will not answer the questions you posted on the reviews...at least not yet. And I have to admit those suggestions in the reviews made me tweak things a little in what I'm continuously writing. _

_So, once more, Ghost Hunt is not mine and please read and review * v ^_

* * *

><p>Naru took a deep breath and sighed. It had been five months since he began working as an 'assistant bartender' for Yasuhara.<p>

He took the bottle caps off of the beer and laid them on the tray. Mai walked toward him with a cheerful smile on her face and took the tray. He watched her deliver the tray to a table.

He sighed once more, this time in relief when Mai walked out of the table without the customers chasing her for entertainment. It had been the usual accidents that Mai got into ever since she worked as a waitress. Either drunkards would demand her presence in their table or she would be pulled by a drunk as hostage so the bouncer didn't kick him out of the bar.

"You're too tense, Naru," Ayako said after sipping her soda.

Ayako turned out to be one of the exorcists that Yasuhara handled as an agent. Aside from being a doctor, she was also a Miko.

Naru could still remember that night when she stepped into the bar in her fatal scarlet stilettos and flashy cocktail dress.

"What on earth are you two doing here!" she scolded Mai and Naru who were, at that time, in the counter fixing orders.

Naru just stared at her.

Mai flushed and tried to calm her down by holding her tightly closed fists. "Ne, Ayako, I can explain..."

"You know these two?" Takigawa asked Ayako as he walked toward the counter in his leather jacket, torn jeans, and black skull-printed shirt.

"You better do," Ayako said glaring at Mai and Naru and ignoring Takigawa's sudden presence. "...because you two are in huge..."

"Shouldn't we ask you the same question?" Naru cut Ayako.

Ayako raised a brow at Naru. "What do you mean? Isn't it obvious?"

Naru smirked. "So you're not only a doctor. You're also moonlighting as a _bint_."

Ayako, Mai, and Takigawa stared confused at Naru.

"What's a bint?" Takigawa asked.

"A _bint_ is a British slang for a woman who wears little clothes, too much make up, and entertains men. It's, as they say, 'one step short of a prostitute,'" Yasuhara said, suddenly standing near the counter with a cheerful smile on his face.

"Oh," Ayako, Mai and Takigawa said understanding the definition.

Takigawa and Mai then stared at Ayako for a moment before bursting into laughter.

Mai leaned laughing on the counter while Naru continued to wipe it clean. Takigawa was pointing a finger at Ayako's face while he laughed at her.

Ayako was red in shame and fury. Gritting her teeth, she slowly lifted up the black handbag that she held in one hand.

"Oh! I have some work to do," Yasuhara cheerfully said, fixing his glasses and turning away.

"Mai, take this to table 3," Naru said handing a tray of drinks to Mai.

Mai nodded and walked away from the counter while Naru stepped farther away from Ayako.

Takigawa being the closest person to Ayako received the deadly wrath of the black Channel swarovski crystal handbag on his head.

It was only when Ayako calmed down that Naru, Mai and Yasuhara went back to their place in the counter.

"Kidding aside, Ayako," Mai said. "Why are you here? Naru and I work here for Yasuhara."

Ayako glared at Naru. "I told you to get your girlfriend a break from work," she said sharply. "Not go to work with her in a bar at this hour!" She then turned to Mai. "And I'm here for a job from Yasuhara too," she said in a kinder tone. "He's my agent, you see. I'm a Miko and Yasuhara looks for people in need of a Miko's help. It's a sideline job."

Naru raised a brow. "I thought you have to be a virgin to be a Miko," he said impassively.

Takigawa burst into laughter as Mai and Yasuhara tried to suppress their chuckles.

Ayako glared at Takigawa and again hurled her handbag on his head.

Naru shut his eyes for a moment to erase the memories of them meeting Ayako. That moment wasn't a time to reminisce anything.

He then stared out at the floor, looking for a brown-haired waitress who was supposed to be walking back to them, perhaps with a new set of orders from the customers.

"Relax," Ayako said. "Mai will be okay."

"Says someone betting for a miracle," Takigawa said as he sat beside Ayako before he took a sip of his beer. Their band had just finished playing and another band had taken over the stage.

Ayako glared at her. "Shut up, Monk," she said. "I'm going to win this time!"

"Yeah right," Takigawa muttered.

"Mai!" Naru called as he jumped over the counter and ran toward Mai who was now being tackled by a drunkard.

The bouncers gave up on trying to save Mai. Naru always beat them to it. So they agreed to protect Mai only when Naru wasn't around, or when he was too mad at her to care and save her – which unfortunately hasn't happened yet.

"And there goes your miracle," Yasuhara said standing beside Ayako with a wide smile on his face.

Ayako slapped her forehead while Takigawa burst into laughter.

"Pay up, baa-chan," Takigawa said reaching out his palm to Ayako.

Ayako glared at him as she slapped two bills on Takigawa's hand.

Naru and Mai were walking toward them now as the bouncers took the drunkards out the door.

Mai sighed as Naru led her to a chair. "Why do I always end up like this?" she muttered.

Naru stared at her. "Do you really want me to answer that?"

Mai stared back blushing at him. "No."

Naru nodded and walked back to his station as Ayako took his place to examine Mai for any injury.

"Just a bruise," Ayako said looking at Mai's arm. "It'll heal in a week."

Mai nodded. "Thank you."

Ayako smiled at her.

They then heard a phone ring.

Everyone looked at Yasuhara who was immediately answering the call in his mobile phone while he ran into the office.

Mai went back to serving the food and drinks while Naru cleaned the counter.

Yasuhara went back to them sighing.

"Who was it?" Ayako asked.

"A source I have about the research I was doing for a friend," Yasuhara said. "I keep getting a dead end on it for some reason."

"What's the topic?" Takigawa asked.

"Paranormal stuff," Yasuhara said as he watched Naru from the corner of his eyes.

Naru stiffened.

"What about it?" Ayako asked.

"It's about the universality of the exorcism methods," Yasuhara said.

Naru attended to a customer but he kept his ears listening on the conversation.

"My friend has this theory that exorcisms, no matter what religion or belief they come from, will work as long as the faith in the essence of good is pure," Yasuhara.

"Wow," Takigawa said. "That's a mouthful."

"That's one heck of a paranormal scientist, whoever he is," Ayako said.

Yasuhara sighed. "That's what I know," he said. "He's a parapsychologist. Unfortunately, when I reached a dead end, I also lost contact with him."

Naru's body tensed.

"What do you mean?" Takigawa asked.

Mai came back waiting to receive more for-delivery orders from the counter.

"I called his mobile phone," Yasuhara said. "But the operator said it couldn't be reached. I tried to visit him in the hotel where he stayed in months ago but the hotel clerk said that he wasn't there anymore. He checked out about a week before I came."

"And you have no idea where he went?" Ayako asked.

"Well, I thought that he would have returned to England where he came from," Yasuhara said.

Mai stared shocked at Yasuhara.

Could he be talking about Gene?

Naru kept his eyes on the ground, keeping his emotionless expression on his face.

"But the embassy didn't have any records saying he left the country," Yasuhara said.

"You went as far as consulting the embassy?" Takigawa gasped.

Yasuhara smiled. "What can I say? He's quite a man to work with. I was also interested in his study. If he's able to prove it, it would be a big controversy, wouldn't it?"

Ayako sighed. "That guy, whoever he is, has a point in his study," she said. "Maybe that's why he's missing..?"

"Hey," Takigawa said glaring at Ayako. "You're jumping to conclusions. Maybe he just went somewhere and lost his phone."

Ayako smirked. "Right," she sarcastically said.

Yasuhara watched Naru stiffly finish his chores.

Mai looked away and took a deep breath.

It had been too long. She needed Gene to show it to her.


	27. Chapter 27

Gene sighed, staring at Mai.

Ever since they met that night, Mai kept her mouth shut.

"Mai, please," Gene said. "Don't make me show it to you."

"Your brother is in pain!"

Gene shook his head. "He's just being an idiot."

Mai sighed. "**I'm** in pain."

Gene looked away.

"You know Osamu Yasuhara, don't you?"

Gene looked at Mai sadly. "He was a researcher that I sought help from for my study."

"We're working for him in the bar," Mai said.

Gene took a deep breath and sighed. "I'll show you tonight. But don't break your promise," he said. "Don't tell him…where I am."

Mai sighed and nodded. "I won't tell him…**yet**."

Gene rolled his eyes. "Fine," he said. He reached out his hand and pulled it back. He looked away for a moment in thought before he looked back at her. "I…I may not be there with you this time. I would want to but I…your abilities won't let me…"

Mai took a deep breath and smiled. "Okay," she said. "I don't mind."

Gene smiled sadly at her and reached out his hand to her.

* * *

><p>Mai found herself beside the road. It was dark and the wind made the leaves of the nearby woods rustle in an eerie hymn.<p>

Mai began to walk toward the road to know where she was. She slowly saw a lake on the other side of the road. It was beautiful but the bloody hue of the moon reflected an uncanny image in the water.

She looked at both directions on the road. There weren't any vehicle in sight. She took a step forward.

Everything was silent.

She continued to walk toward the other side of the road but upon reaching the middle, she heard a loud screeching sound.

She turned to her left and saw two blinding lights – a speeding car – running toward her.

She gasped and tried to run but the vehicle was too fast. She screamed as she felt the stone-hard bumper hit her waist, hurling her upper body forward – crashing her face hard on the solid glass. Pain surged from her face, from her waist, from her limbs…

Then she felt her body bounce and roll from the vehicle to the asphalt road. She started to feel small flames burning in every part of her body. By the time her body stopped rolling, she could barely move.

Her eyes were tightly shut. Her body felt like being burned over and over again. Every beat of her heart…every movement of her lungs brought her intense pain.

She suddenly felt something lifting her from the ground. They seemed to move her forward…somewhere…

She felt like being pulled back swiftly, and then being hurled forward.

She felt her body fall…fall and drop painfully on...liquid…water! The lake!

She felt her body sink as the water pushed her body to stand. She couldn't move. Water blocked her ears.

Her lungs kept its pace.

She felt the water burn the inside of her nose. She felt the sting and pain of chocking.

She wanted to breathe. She wanted to live.

But the water held her from breathing. When her mouth opened, water flooded her throat. She kept on choking…choking…

She screamed but she didn't hear anything.

She suddenly felt like being pulled…pulled to sit up. She heard a faint sound.

She tried to scream again but she still felt like she was choking…and she still couldn't hear her self.

She felt like being shaken...shaken several times and then…

Slap!

Mai's moist eyes opened wide.

Naru sighed in relief.

He woke up that night to the sound of Mai's choked screams. He quickly got up and tried to wake her up but she didn't respond to any call he made.

He turned the light on and sat shocked at Mai's pale face. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. Her lips were purple and her chest barely moved to breathe.

He felt panic surge into his veins. He knelt down and lifted her to his chest. He shook her again but she just choked a scream.

He did the last thing that he thought of doing – he slapped her.

Mai slowly saw a blurry image of someone looking down at her. She winced several times before it cleared. She saw Naru's worried face hovering closely over hers.

She gasped and felt air enter her lungs.

She could breathe!

Mai quickly jolted and threw her arms at Naru. "Na…ru," she said. It sounded choked and muffled.

Naru held her tight against him. He couldn't help but feel the pain that her cries were trying to relieve her body of. Her chest heaved deep and heavily as if it was making the most of every moment that it took in air.

"It's okay," Naru gently whispered to Mai, though it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself that she was indeed alright. "It's okay. You're alright. It's okay now Mai. You're awake. I'm here."

Mai buried her face on the nape of his neck. She pressed her ear close to his chest to hear his heart beat…his breathing.

It took her more than fifteen minutes to calm down. When she wasn't crying as hard, Naru slowly pulled away to get her a glass of water.

He had to hold the glass for Mai when she drank because her limbs trembled furiously.

After drinking the water, Naru turned the light off. He pulled his futon closer to hers and pushed the curtain that separated them away. He then went back to his futon and pulled Mai to sleep close to his chest.

He held her tight until he felt her breathing calm down. He listened to her heart beat and let his eyes close to rest.


	28. Chapter 28

Mai placed the plate of fish and chips on the table. She then gave the customers her trademark smile and walked away.

It had been 2 weeks since she saw Gene's death in his perspective. Gene apologized to her every time they met in her dream and whenever he remembered what he did.

She had to admit that it left her shaken to the bone. She couldn't fall asleep on her own. Laying her body flat on the floor made her feel suffocated.

Naru noticed it and made her sleep on his chest every night. They no longer put the curtain up between them.

He asked her about the dream several times but she didn't seem to have the courage to tell him the truth. She didn't have the courage to tell him a lie either so she told him that she wasn't ready to talk about it.

She took a deep breath before putting the tray on the counter. She looked at Naru. He was still busy attending to a customer.

She quickly ran to Yasuhara's office.

"Yes..?" Yasuhara asked, looking up to see Mai. "Oh, Mai-chan! How can I help you?"

Mai shyly smiled at him. "Yasu I..." she sighed and thought of the right words.

Yasuhara eyed her carefully.

"That scientist you spoke with before…the one from England," Mai began.

Yasuhara stiffened.

Mai looked at him. "Where was he when you last spoke to him?"

Yasuhara smiled sadly at her. "I didn't think **you** would ask me that," he said. "I was hoping that Shibuya-san would come to me and ask about him."

Mai raised her brows. "You…know..?"

Yasuhara shrugged his shoulders. "I had a feeling that he was related to him," he said. "Like I said, I never forget a voice I've spoken with – especially that one. He was a good person."

Mai walked closer to Yasuhara. "Naru doesn't know I'm asking you about this now."

Yasuhara stared in surprise at Mai.

Mai sighed. "Naru's looking for him," she said. "That's why he's here. I just…learned it by accident. He doesn't know that I know…at least not yet."

Yasuhara sighed. "So…you want to find him too?"

Mai nodded. "Naru…he needs to see him."

Yasuhara thought for a moment. "I wasn't able to find him even if I knew where he was when we last spoke," he said. "How would you be able to find him?"

"I'll find a way," she said. "Please, Yasuhara…"

Yasuhara smiled. "You know I can never resist you when you look at me like that," he said. He pulled out a piece of paper and wrote something on it. He then gave it to Mai. "That's the address of where he stayed and where he was when I last saw him."

Mai read it and smiled at Yasuhara. "Thank you so much." She turned to the door when Yasuhara spoke again.

"You said that the reason why Naru is here is him, right?"

Mai nodded to him.

"So…if he finds him, he'll…"

"Leave, yes," Mai said.

He saw pain in her eyes.

"He's stayed too long here anyway," she said. "It's time…he goes home."

"But you love him, don't you?"

Mai looked away and smiled. She took a deep breath and gave the best smile she could muster. "That's why I'm looking for him."

Yasuhara shook his head as Mai went out of the room. "You're really an idiot," he said. "And Naru would be an even bigger idiot if he chooses to let go of you."


	29. Chapter 29

_Thank you all so much for taking the time to read and review the chapters I uploaded! And I must say I love Music-Lover2011's suggestion. I'll see what I can do about that._

_One word for you, people. AWESOME! _^ v ^

_So again, please read and review! And no, Ghost Hunt is not mine. Tah!_

* * *

><p>Naru walked Mai to her school again.<p>

Ever since that nightmare, he noticed the pain in Mai's smiles. He noticed how her eyes would look dead while she walked with him. He noticed how she seemed to be hiding something painful from him.

Mai ran to her friends again after she bid him goodbye.

"Did you give your graduation invitation to Shibuya-san?" he heard one of her friends say.

Graduation..?

He looked at the school gate and saw a small banner about the upcoming graduation ceremony.

He remembered that Mai was on her last year of high school already.

Naru sighed and looked away.

She must have been upset about graduating without her parents beside her. He could relate to the feeling. Though he graduated with his adoptive parents beside him, he still felt hurt that his biological parents didn't know about his achievement.

Naru continued to walk on the street until he reached the town.

He had been checking lake after lake and yet he still couldn't find the right one. If only he could ask Yasuhara about it…

But there was a part of him that always held him back from talking to Yasuhara about it. There was a part of him that was scared about finding the lake, about finding Gene…and about leaving…

He turned to his side and realized that he stopped beside a jewellery shop. He looked at the displays and noticed a gold necklace with a gold key dangling from it like a pendant.

He remembered the key that Mai kept in her pocket and smirked.

Naru took a deep breath and walked into the jewellery shop.

* * *

><p>After school, Mai ran to the nearest Internet café in town. She searched for information about the place that Yasuhara gave her, and checked the closest lakes in the area.<p>

She checked a number of pictures of lakes until she came across one that brought her back to her nightmare.

She bit her lips.

She knew where Gene was.

* * *

><p>Naru sat in the train car. He held the small box that was deep in his pocket. He felt nervous for some reason.<p>

He looked at the window and wondered what made him submit himself into such idiocy. It was illogical – all the feelings, all the emotions…all the intimate things he was doing.

Mai was a pawn in his chess board. She was an unlucky soul who came into his life and became a tool in his pursuit to find his brother. She was an instrument, an apparatus, a utensil…and she was Mai.

Naru took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He hoped that Mai would like his gift.

* * *

><p>Mai was dead and walking.<p>

She walked home on her own from the café to the house without a care in the world. She was grieving…grieving for something that she was never supposed to have.

The moment she got to the door, she threw her self on the floor. She started to feel suffocated again so she sat up and curled into a corner.

Naru was still away. It was Friday and she called Haruka-san that she would skip work because she wasn't feeling well.

Haruka-san was worried and told her that she should skip her work the next day as well. After all, Haruka-san said she was going to have her monthly check up and she wasn't planning on opening her shop that day.

She thought twice about calling Naru. She would now be officially lying to him. She knew where Gene was and she couldn't help but think twice about telling him.

She pulled out her mobile phone from her pocket and put it as far away from her as possible.

She buried her face in her arms and let the tears roll down her cheeks.

"Mai," she heard a familiar voice call.

She looked up and saw Naru smiling sadly at her…no…It was Gene.

She was back in the weird place where she first met him.

"You can just forget it," Gene said. "I can help you."

Mai smiled at him and shook her head. "You need to be found," she said.

Gene shook his head. "I'm happy here," he said. "I'm happy to watch him with you."

Mai chuckled. Tears continued to flow down her cheeks. "He needs to find you."

Gene winced and looked away. "But if you tell him," he said before looking back at her again. "You will lose him."

Mai smiled. "He was never mine to begin with," she said. "I have no right to hold him back. Besides, he would be happier this way. Believe me."

Gene sighed and embraced her. "Mai, this end…is unfair."

"I met him for a reason," Mai said. "I met him…I met him so he could find you."

"What if…what if this is wrong?"

"How could it be wrong? You know in your self that it's right, don't you Gene?"

Gene closed his eyes and buried his face into her hair. "It's…painful…"

Mai closed her eyes.

* * *

><p>Naru came home after Haruka-san told him that Mai wasn't feeling well. He called Yasuhara to tell him that he and Mai wouldn't be able to go to work that night. Yasuhara said it was okay, and that it was a good thing that the next day was their day off. Mai would be able to rest.<p>

Naru opened the door, wondering why the lights were still off. It was already past seven in the evening.

He switched the light on and saw Mai curled up in a corner. He walked toward her and saw her mobile phone on the floor.

He sighed.

…No wonder she didn't answer his calls…

There was a notice of seven missed calls on the screen of the mobile phone. He took the phone and placed it on the shelf. He saw the graduation invitation on the mantelpiece.

He picked it up and read it.

It wasn't addressed to anyone. But he saw a trace of pencil on the blank – a writing that had been erased. He took a pencil and lightly rubbed the lead on the space.

He smirked.

"Shibuya Kazuya," it read.

He erased it again and walked to Mai with the invitation in his hand. He sat down next to her and gently shook her shoulders.

"Mai," she heard. She opened her eyes and raised her head. She saw Naru sitting beside her.

"You didn't tell me you weren't feeling well," he said.

When she first met him, she always saw nothing on his face – no emotion, no expression. But now, she could clearly see an emotion but not on his face. It was in his eyes. She saw the concern in his gaze.

Mai smiled at him. "Sorry," she said.

Naru sighed and stretched his legs on the floor. "When is your graduation?" he asked.

Mai looked away. "Next week," she shyly answered.

"You weren't planning on inviting anyone," he said.

Mai shrugged her shoulders. "Bou-san has an important gig," she said. "Ayako has a scheduled organ transplant operation. Yasuhara's busy helping out in his school's graduation affair. Shiro-kun will be graduating that day. So is Emi's younger sister."

Naru nodded. "And you didn't ask me," he said. "Idiot."

Mai glared at him. "Wouldn't you be busy in a trip that day?"

Naru shrugged his shoulders. "It can be postponed," he said. He then looked at Mai and gave her the blank invitation.

Mai smiled shyly and accepted it. She looked at Naru. "Will you really be there?"

Naru smirked. "Are you inviting me?"

Mai scowled, her cheeks blushing. She then stood up and took a pen. She sat back and wrote Naru's name on the invitation. She handed it to Naru.

"Will you come to our graduation ceremony?" she asked.

Naru looked at the invitation. "I'll think about it," he said.

Mai sighed and looked sadly away.

Naru looked at her and smirked. "I've decided."

Mai looked up at him.

"I'm going."

Mai smiled. "Can you promise me that you'll come?"

Naru rolled his eyes muttering something like, "childish" before raising his right hand. "I, Shibuya Kazuya, promise to attend Taniyama Mai's graduation ceremony," he said looking straight into Mai's round brown eyes.

Mai chuckled as Naru put his hand down. "You better keep that promise," she said. "...Because if you don't, it will really break my heart."

Naru smirked. "I never break a promise."

Mai smiled and hugged him tight.

Naru sat stunned at the gesture but he slowly wrapped his arms around her and held her close.

Mai closed her eyes and let her tears fall. This was the last time she would be able to do it.

"Hey, Naru," she said still holding him tight. "Since tomorrow is our day off and Haruka-san said she'll be closing the shop for her monthly check up, can we go somewhere? Just a quick vacation..?"

Naru thought about it. "Where do you want to go?"

Mai smiled and let her tears fall again. "I saw this really beautiful place I want to visit. The trip won't cost us that much."


	30. Chapter 30

Mai looked out at the scenery as they rode the cab. Naru was emotionless as usual.

They just got off the train. After reserving a room in a hotel, Mai dragged him to go with her and look at the place.

"Here," Mai told the driver. "You can drop us off here."

The cab stopped in an intersection.

Naru stared confused at Mai.

Mai smiled at him. "Walking will help us appreciate the view more." She then dragged Naru out of the cab after paying the fare.

Mai locked her fingers with Naru's as they walked the road under the canopy of trees.

Naru sighed. "Everything is just green, brown or black here," he said, trying to ignore the warm feeling inside him with every moment that he recognized Mai's hand in his.

Mai chuckled. "You forgot blue and white," she said. "Look up, isn't it beautiful?"

Naru looked up.

Mai watched him. She memorized every line, colour, and contour of his face. She remembered how soft and warm his hand was against hers.

"Come on," she said. "There's a more beautiful scenery there," she said pointing at the direction ahead of them. "Last one there is an idiot!" She then ran away fast, releasing her hold on Naru's hand.

Naru raised a brow at Mai and shook his head. "Childish," he muttered. He then smirked and ran quickly after her.

Mai felt the wind against her face. She felt her tears fall and get brushed to her cheeks. She ran fast. She ran as fast as she could.

She then saw Naru run past her.

"Idiot," he said. "I have longer legs," he said before running past her into the end of the woods…

…Into the site that would part them.

Naru continued to run, smiling and feeling the cool wind on his face. He slowed down to a jog. He hasn't felt so light in months.

He started to walk casually.

He saw his brother cross the street…the car hit him…his body thrown into the lake.

Naru froze. He stiffly looked to his right – the place where the woods was supposed to be. But instead, he saw a lake...**the** lake.

He stood stunned at the edge of the road.

Mai walked toward him, watching his face show shock, horror…relief… She smiled, wiping the tears from her eyes. She stood beside him and looked at the lake.

It reminded her of the nightmare.

She looked at Naru and tried to reach for his hand again.

But his hands were closed.

She pulled her hand back and took a deep breath. "Go get him," she said. "..._Idiot scientist_."

Naru stared in shock at Mai.

She just smiled at him.

It took him a few minutes before he began to pull out his mobile phone from his pocket and make some calls.


	31. Chapter 31

_You guys are amazing! I'm really amazed at how you give reviews on this that fast. And thank you so much for both reading and giving those inspiring reviews. And on the added suggestion, Music-Lover2011, _LIKE!

_And on the questions about missing characters, I'm really sorry I cannot (or is it will not?) answer that at the moment. I don't really want to spill anything just yet. _^ v ^

_So please read and review, and..._Ghost Hunt is not mine ^ . ^

* * *

><p>It was Sunday. Naru watched the recovery team dive in and out of the water in their scuba diving gears. The lake was near a tourist attraction so some people were gathering in the far shore.<p>

Mai watched Naru as she stood behind him.

He was the Naru she didn't know again. He didn't talk to her. He spoke only to people on the other line of his calls. He spoke to the divers. He spoke to the officers.

Mai wrapped her arms around her.

…Just until Gene is found…after that…

By the end of that day, the divers called Naru to report that they did get a corpse. Naru took a peak at the black bag that held it and nodded.

Gene was found.

Mai sighed. "Good bye, Gene," she said. She then turned and took a cab to the hotel. She took her things and rode a train home.

Upon reaching home, she sent Naru's luggage to the hotel where he stayed.

* * *

><p>Oliver sat on his bed checking some documents for their departure when he heard a knock on the door.<p>

He got up, walked to the door and opened it.

"Lin," he said greeting the tall man in front of him.

"Noll," Lin greeted back.

Oliver stepped away and let him in.

"I also brought a package that just came for you," he said as he walked in with a back pack hanging from his shoulder, and a luggage with the name 'Shibuya Kazuya' on it.

Oliver stared at the luggage and remembered Mai. He had ignored her presence since he found the lake.

She called him 'idiot scientist.' She must have known all along and yet it was only then that she told him about the lake.

He felt betrayed and...hurt.

"I've reserved tickets to leave this evening," Oliver said.

Lin nodded. "You could have got into trouble," he said. "You should have told me. You were lucky they allowed you here without a guardian."

Oliver didn't answer.

Lin looked at him. "You got your parents worried."

"I got him now, didn't I?"

Lin sighed. "Where were you all this time? We couldn't find you in the hotels."

Oliver looked at his luggage. "Nowhere," he said.

* * *

><p>Mai sat in a restaurant. She called Yasuhara to give him the news but Yasuhara told her to meet him in a restaurant the next day instead.<p>

Yasuhara walked in and sat in front of Mai. He immediately noticed the sadness in her eyes.

He sighed. "I heard about the search in a lake there," he said.

Mai looked up at him and smiled.

He could see the pain in her eyes.

"They found him," she said. "They're going to take him home tonight. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you earlier."

Yasuhara shook his head. "It's okay. What did Naru tell you?"

Mai chuckled. "Nothing," she said. "You know how he is."

Yasuhara frowned. "He found him because of you."

Mai shook her head. "He found him because of you, Yasuhara. He should thank you, not me."

"You knew where he was," he insisted. "I only had an idea."

Mai sighed. "If he asked you, he would have found him too."

"It was your effort to ask me, and your willingness to give him up that helped him find Gene."

Mai chuckled. "Look at us! We're arguing over nothing."

Yasuhara watched the sadness in her eyes hide itself behind her smiles. "So I don't have an assistant bartender," he said. "Will I be losing a waitress too?"

Mai sighed. "I'm sorry, Yasuhara. I have plans."

Yasuhara nodded and smiled. "I understand. Bou-san and Ayako will be upset though. They didn't get to say good bye to you."

Mai smiled. "Please give them these," she said handing Yasuhara three white envelopes. "The last one is yours."

Yasuhara smiled. "Thank you. You have my number. Just call me if you need anything, okay?"

Mai nodded. "Thank you so much for everything."

* * *

><p>Oliver opened his eyes. He was inside the airplane again. But this time, Lin sat next to him. The stewardess just announced that they would soon be arriving in England.<p>

He looked at his reflection in the window.

"Idiot," he heard a voice in his head say.

Oliver ignored it and began to fix his things.

* * *

><p>"Oliver!" a woman called from a far as Oliver and Lin walked out to the lobby with their luggage.<p>

The woman ran to Oliver and hugged him tight.

"Welcome back, son," she said.

Ever since he rode the airplane, everything that he heard was in English.

"Hello mother," he said. He looked at the man walking toward them. "Father," he greeted.

The man smiled and patted Oliver's shoulder. "Don't do that again," he said. "You got us all worried, especially your mother."

"I'm sorry," Oliver said.

His mother smiled and hugged him again.

"Luella, Martin," Lin greeted as he approached them.

"Lin," Luella said after hugging Oliver.

A woman in pink locks walked toward the group.

"Madoka," Lin greeted.

"Lin, Oliver," she greeted warmly. "Welcome back!"

Oliver just looked at her.

"We've finished the preparations," Luella said.

Oliver nodded.

They then walked out of the airport.

"...Idiot..."

* * *

><p>Mai took a deep breath and walked toward the market. She rarely went there because of the people who stayed in that particular area – gamblers, drunkards, underground organizations…<p>

"Takumi-kun!" Mai called.

The young man on the floor playing cards looked up and saw her. "Mai-chan!"

Takumi stood up saying excuses to his playmates before he walked toward Mai. "I thought Shibuya-san forbid you to talk to me."

Mai chuckled. "Who would he be to forbid me?"

Takumi shrugged his shoulders. "Isn't he your boyfriend?"

Mai rolled her eyes. "Do you still have that slot for me?"

"Of course," Takumi said. "Why would I lose it?"

"Just checking," she said. "I have the money. I'm graduating soon too."

"Oh! Great! Come with me. I'll take you to the office so we'll get the contract ready."

* * *

><p>Oliver looked down at the coffin that held the remains of his twin brother. He watched the roses fall on its wooden cover.<p>

It had been a solemn ceremony. The people who attended were more relieved than sad, including Fr. Brown and Hara Masako whom they invited to be with them. He also asked Yasuhara to attend it but he was too occupied to fly to England on time for the burial ceremony.

At least Gene was home now and he would find peace.

Martin led Luella away from the grave. She was crying the whole ceremony.

Oliver gazed at the grave and its stone marker.

"Idiot," he heard in his head again. But he ignored it. After watching the tomb stone for a few more minutes, he walked away.


	32. Chapter 32

Mai looked at the seats allotted for the guests one last time. They had just finished the last rehearsal for their graduation ceremony.

She looked at that one chair allotted for whoever would be coming for her. She imagined seeing Naru there...in his usual black pants, collared shirt, and perhaps his newsboy cap...just like when she first met him...

Mai smiled.

If only dreams could come true.

* * *

><p>Naru unzipped the zipper of his luggage. He hadn't touched the luggage to unload his things ever since they got back home. He didn't seem to have the time and the patience to do it.<p>

He pulled out his clothes and put them on his bed.

He unzipped the pockets and emptied them. On the front pocket, he found a graduation invitation with 'Shibuya Kazuya' on it.

All this time, he decided to forget his stay in that small apartment – that small room – his nights on a futon, his times watching on the small TV, his experience in doing so many jobs in a week…

He pulled the invitation out and in the process found a gold necklace falling on the floor.

Oliver picked it up and stared at it.

It was the gold key necklace that he bought for Mai.

"Idiot," he heard again.

"_You better keep that promise,_ b_ecause if you don't, it will really break my heart."_

"_I never break a promise."_

"...Idiot..."

Oliver looked at his reflection on the glass window. He walked closer toward it and saw someone who looked just like him. He was sad. He seemed to be in pain.

"Idiot," his reflection said.

"Gene..?" Oliver said reaching his hand out to touch the reflection.

He saw an image of Mai crying in front of him. He looked away, feeling something painful in his chest at the image of her suffering.

"_But if you tell him," _he found himself saying before looking back at her again. _"You will lose him."_

Mai smiled. _"He was never mine to begin with,"_ she said. _"I have no right to hold him back. Besides, he would be happier this way. Believe me."_

Oliver pulled his hand away and saw his reflection again.

"Are you happy?" his reflection asked.

Naru felt a tear slide down his cheek. He looked away and saw the invitation in his hand.

"I don't break a promise," he said. He ran to get his mobile phone and began making a call.

His reflection watched him sadly.

"...Idiot..."


	33. Chapter 33

Mai stood in the line waiting for the ceremony to begin. She kept her eye on the seat she reserved for Naru.

No one was there.

* * *

><p>Naru sat in the airplane again.<p>

This was his second time that he ran away. There was no time. He was lucky to still catch a flight that evening.

He had been calling Mai's mobile phone since his mobile phone's international roaming function was on. All of his ten attempts ended up as missed calls.

The captain has announced its arrival in the Japanese airport.

Naru held the gold key in the necklace inside his pocket.

* * *

><p>The ceremony had begun. The speeches were being delivered.<p>

Mai looked at the seat.

It was still empty.

* * *

><p>Naru quickly ran out and rode a cab. He told the driver to go to the school as fast as he could.<p>

It took almost an hour and half for them to get to the school.

Naru paid the cab and swiftly ran into the gate, heading straight to the hall where the ceremony was supposed to take place.

He opened the door of the hall.

* * *

><p>Mai looked at the seat again.<p>

Her face lit up at the sight of someone in black clothes walking near the chair and eventually sitting on it.

* * *

><p><em>THE END<em>

_KIDDING _^ v ^ _not yet...THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS!_


	34. Chapter 34

Mai's face fell back to a sad smile.

The man who sat down was a bald middle-aged man. The seats weren't enough and since no one came for Mai, the seat was offered to him.

Mai looked away.

* * *

><p>Naru saw no one else in the hall but the janitor, Hirouko-san, who was cleaning it. There were still stacks of chairs around – the proof that the ceremony did happen.<p>

"Excuse me, Hirouko-san," Naru breathlessly said.

"Oh, Shibuya-san!" the janitor said. "I was wondering where you were. Mai-chan asked me about you."

"Mai..? ...You…The ceremony…where," he said unable to organize his thoughts.

"I'm sorry," the janitor sadly said. "But it finished forty-five minutes ago."

Naru felt a surge of pain in his chest.

"I heard Mai-chan was planning to go straight home," Hirouko said seeing Naru's pained face.

"Thank you!" And with that, he ran out of the school.

He ran through the streets and alleys where he and Mai walked every weekday morning. He could still remember her cheerful smiles, her pouting lips when she frowned, her expressive eyes…and the way she looked at him.

It was as if he wasn't cold, he wasn't conceited, and he was just…him.

He reached the alley that led to the house.

Grey clouds were gathering overhead.

He reached the house and began to knock on the door.

There was no answer.

He knocked on the door again. "Mai," he called sharply.

There was still no answer.

"Mai!" he pleadingly called as he knocked once more. "Mai, it's me. Please! Mai!"

"Shibuya-san?" he heard a small voice call from behind him.

Naru turned and saw Shiro. "Shiro-kun," he said in relief.

"Mai-chan is not there," the boy said.

Naru walked closer to him. "Do you know where she is?"

Shiro shook his head. "She came here with Takumi-san," he said.

Naru froze.

"Mai-chan went out with a big bag," the boy continued. "Then a group of men took out boxes from her house. Her landlady said she would sell it in the junk shop. The landlady also locked the door."

Naru looked away. He could feel the pain creep into every vein in his body. He wanted to wince and cry.

"She told me to give you this if I see you," Shiro said handing Naru a mobile phone – the same one that he bought for Mai.

Naru held it in his hand and saw images of Mai's smiling face – when he taught her how to use it, when she read messages that came from him, when she answered the calls…

And then her face as she thought about calling him before she threw it on the floor and curled up into a ball into the corner of the room.

She was decided on telling him about Gene. And it pained her to accept the responsibility.

He saw…

* * *

><p>...Shiro bid him good bye as his mother's voice echoed in the distance.<p>

Naru held his tears from falling. He walked through the alleys toward the tea shop. He also called Yasuhara, Bou-san, and Ayako. He even contacted Emi.

None of them knew where Mai was, even Haruka-san.

"Mai left right after the ceremony," Mai's friend said when Naru called her using his phone. Her friends gave him their number when Mai was hospitalized, asking Naru to tell them any change in her condition.

Naru thanked the girl and continued his walk to the market.

"Kaiba-san doesn't live here anymore," said one of the co-workers he had in the market before. "He left this morning. He said he'll be moving to another place. He didn't tell us where he was moving to."

Naru walked toward the bench soaked in rain water.

It was already raining hard when he headed to the park. The sky was dark. He sat down on a bench.

It was just like the day when he met a dead end in his search for Gene – when Mai stood in the rain with an umbrella that barely kept her dry in the pouring rain.

He didn't know what else to do.

Naru looked at the gold necklace in his hand.

Maybe that was how Mai felt when he went away for so long. She didn't know where to go and find him so she waited outside to guide him back home.

But this time, no matter how long he waited in that spot, Mai won't walk his way. When he was away, he knew that Mai would be waiting for him. He knew in his heart that Mai would never abandon him.

But Mai doesn't know that he came back for her. She didn't know that he tried to keep his promise. She didn't know that he looked for her. She didn't know that he would be waiting for her.

Naru winced.

He didn't even thank her for telling him about Gene.

"Idiot," he mumbled as his tears mixed with the pouring rain. "...Idiot. I'm such an idiot!"

He remembered the last image that he saw from the mobile phone.

Mai seemed to be packing her things into a bag. She opened a cabinet and saw two futons – the old one that she owned and the new one that Naru bought.

She smiled and pulled out the old one. She buried her face into the futon. Her shoulders began to shake.

"Mai," Takumi said, standing by the door. "Let's go."

She wiped her tears and hid the futons in a box. "I'll be right there," she said.

Mai stood up taking the travel bag with her. She walked out of the house.

Other people in uniforms went in, taking the boxes with them. The house was left dark and empty.

Naru let everything out. He didn't care if anyone heard his sobs. Relieving the surging pain that flowed throughout his body was the only thing that mattered.

The rain poured harder and hid his pained cries.

He remembered his dream and the question that Gene asked him.

"No, Gene," he said. "I'm not happy."

He continued to cry until the rain turned into gentle rain showers.


	35. Chapter 35

Oliver's eyes were fixed at nowhere as he sat slouched on the bench.

This was how Lin found him in the park.

Everyone in the house panicked when they realized that Oliver was gone again. Lin felt that the luggage Oliver didn't unpack could somehow be related to his disappearance so he checked Oliver's room first.

It was on Oliver's bed that Lin found the graduation invitation. He saw the date and thought that Oliver must have been thinking of attending it. He immediately took the soonest flight available and ordered a cab to take him to the school.

Lin spoke to a janitor in the school and asked for 'Shibuya Kazuya.' The janitor confirmed seeing Shibuya and said that he seemed to be looking for his girlfriend Taniyama Mai who was part of the batch that graduated earlier that day.

The janitor gave him Taniyama's address since he said it was also where Shibuya stayed.

Lin went to the address and found the small apartment empty. He asked people about Shibuya and Taniyama. A few neighbours confirmed seeing him in the area not long ago. As for Taniyama, the neighbours said she moved away that morning right after her graduation. None of them knew where she would have moved to.

Lin walked aimlessly everywhere despite the pouring rain, asking people if they saw anyone that fit Oliver's description. After almost two hours of walking, he was led to the park where he saw Oliver seated on a bench.

Lin sat down beside him on the bench.

Oliver sat still.

Lin watched the rain drops fall softly over them. He could see how broken Oliver was. The last time that he saw him this shattered was when Oliver learned about Gene's death after getting a vision from one of Gene's shirts.

He thought about the information he gathered.

No wonder they didn't find Oliver for the past months in the country. He chose to stay in someone's home instead of staying in a hotel or an apartment.

Oliver was a smart kid. He knew his parents wouldn't let him go and look for his brother on his own so he escaped and hid himself until he reached his goal.

Oliver knew that their search will involve checking hotel and apartment records for his name or the name he used when he took quick trips in Japan – Shibuya Kazuya.

Lin looked at Oliver's face. He saw regret in his eyes.

Lin felt sad for him. By the information he had gathered, this Taniyama Mai had captured Oliver's hidden ability to love someone other than Oliver's self, his twin, and his extremely small circle of friends and family.

And it seemed that finding Gene cost him his happiness with her.

Perhaps Taniyama knew this would happen so she sent Oliver's luggage to the hotel when they found Gene.

Come to think of it, when he asked the reception desk about Taniyama Mai, they said that she came with Shibuya Kazuya three days before Lin came. The person on the desk also told him that she checked out the same date that Lin received a call from Oliver about finding Gene.

She must have known about Gene. She must have known that Oliver would leave for England for good.

But she didn't know that he would come back for her.

Lin remembered the invitation that he kept in his pocket.

Perhaps she hoped that he would be there for her. Perhaps she hoped that she wouldn't have to leave and forget about him.

But Oliver wasn't able to make it on time.

"Let's go home, Noll," Lin said.

Oliver nodded.

* * *

><p><em>Thank you so much for all the reviews you've given me for this story, and also for taking the time to read all the chapters I've uploaded for this fanfic. <em>

_I really don't want to say this but I have to...This is the last chapter...at least for "Are you happy?"_

_I hope you enjoy my other babies just as much as you enjoyed my "Are you happy?" baby. Writing this and reading your responses on the chapters was one awesome experience. _

_I really can't thank you enough. _**YOU GUYS ROCK! ^ v ^**


	36. Key

Oliver stood staring at his reflection. He had his sleeping wear on – a pair of blue striped pyjamas. The key necklace dangled from his neck with the key against his chest.

He gently held the key in his fingers and closed his eyes. Was it really time to let Mai go?

He slowly opened his eyes and stood shocked as his reflection didn't touch the dangling key on its chest. He looked at the reflection of his face and saw a different him smiling warmly back.

"Gene," he said.

"Fate is giving you another chance," he said.

"What..?"

Gene glared at him. "Lose her again and I swear I'll give you nightmares every night of your life!"

Oliver stood frozen in place.

He saw the brown haired girl amidst the crowd.

There was no mistake.

He knew those round eyes. He knew that innocent profile.

"Mai," he breathed.

The people were moving away from the approaching truck filled with crates of watermelon. Oliver also stepped closer to the side of the alley.

He watched the people in the crowd move to the side…except for one.

Mai got her mobile phone out after a couple of minutes of trying to balance the bags in one arm. She didn't notice how the people slammed against her more than they did before. She was too focused on getting her phone out to notice why the crowd moved in such way.

"MAI!"

Mai froze.

She saw the truck and it wasn't in any way trying to halt to a stop.

"MAI!"


	37. Chapter 37

_Hi everyone! _^ v ^

_I was really moved by all your comments on the last chapter for "Are you happy?" Thank you so much for everything! _

_So I uploaded "Key" on this story to give you a pseudo-trailer of the sequel for the story. And speaking of sequel, I uploaded it by the way._

_I hope you enjoy the sequel as much as you enjoyed "Are you happy?" _


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